2017 Internet Of Things 50: 15 Coolest IoT Hardware Companies

The Hottest (IoT) Hardware

IoT solutions begin at the edge with hardware technology – including low-power sensors, ruggedized gateways, modems, routers and, at the very smallest level, semiconductors.

These hardware offerings, which are critical to IoT operability, are customized and specifically designed for collecting data in verticals like the retail and manufacturing markets. While traditional hardware vendors like Intel, Hewlett Packard Enterprise and ARM are offering products in the CPU and gateway arena, other new vendors are emerging with specific hardware-based solutions in various verticals. And at the center of this entire ecosystem is the channel, which is integrating the hardware into the rest of the IoT solution.

Following are 15 companies with the coolest IoT back-end hardware solutions.

ARM

Top Executive: Simon Segars, CEO

Cambridge, U.K.-based ARM, which was acquired by Japanese telecommunications vendor Softbank in 2016, offers chips that consume less power so they can be used in smaller IoT devices. ARM's Cortex-R and Cortex-M designs present opportuni­ties in the smart automotive industry, for instance.

Cisco Systems

Top Executive: Chuck Robbins, CEO

San Jose, Calif.-based Cisco's strategy around IoT includes six pillars of technology that channel partners can access: network connectivity, IOx and fog applications, security, data analytics, automation tools and application enablement. The company specifically offers gateways, industrial switching and embedded routers for IoT.

Dell

Top Executive: Michael Dell, CEO

Round Rock, Texas-based Dell offers its Edge Gateway series as cost-effective gateways that support analytics at the edge, and its Embedded Box PC series as rugged, fanless purpose-built form factors for industrial IoT uses such as fleet management and digital signage.

Eurotech

Top Executive: Roberto Siagri, CEO

Columbia, Md.-based Eurotech's cloud-based Everyware platform aims to simplify device and data management by connecting distributed devic­es over secure cloud services. Everyware enables customers with deployed devices to connect, configure and manage those devices throughout their life cycle.

Google

Top Executive: Sundar Pichai, CEO

Mountain View, Calif.-based Google is known for its Google Cloud Platform, but the company also offers its Nest product line that is designed to bring IoT into homes through products such as thermostats, fire alarms and security cameras.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise

Top Executive: Meg Whitman, CEO

HPE, Palo Alto, Calif., is charging ahead in IoT by offering ’converged’ IoT systems designed for the edge of the network. These gateway systems, including the Edgeline EL1000 and Edgeline EL4000, are being touted as the industry's first converged systems for IoT.

Intel

Top Executive: Brian Krzanich, CEO

Santa Clara, Calif.-based Intel offers developer kits, tools, and SDKs, as well as other resources for IoT. The chip company's IoT processor lineup includes Quark, Atom and Xeon processors specifically targeting IoT use cases in the retail and manufacturing markets for its partners.

Lantronix

Top Executive: Jeffrey Benck

Irvine, Calif.-based Lantronix is a specialized networking company that provides smart IoT and M2M (machine to machine) connectivity solutions for various industries - including the health-care, industrial and transportation markets - such as IoT gateways and modules, infrastructure management IT, and mobile printing products.

Libelium

Top Executive: Alicia Asin, Co-Founder, CEO

Redwood City, Calif.-based Libelium provides the tools that solution providers need to connect sensors on industrial IoT-enabled devices to the cloud – including Meshlium, which connects sensor networks to the cloud, as well as custom hardware and firmware designs.

Monnit

Top Executive: Brad Walters, Founder, CEO

Salt Lake City-based Monnit offers up to 40 "off-the-shelf" wireless sensor types and gateways that connect with on­line or local monitoring software, enabling customers to keep track of sensor data and receive real-time alerts, as well as keep automated control based on sensor readings.

Qualcomm

Top Executive: Steven Mollenkopf, CEO

San Diego-based Qualcomm touts a number of offerings and services surrounding wearables, smart cities and smart homes. Qualcomm's low-power Snapdragon processors are built to power the consumer devices behind IoT, including everything from washers to refrigerators. Qualcomm partners also have access to the company's M1 modems Cat 1 LTE technology at its core.

Samsara

Top Executive: Sanjit Biswas, Founder, CEO

San Francisco-based Samsara offers internet-connected sensors for industrial customers with wireless gateways that transmit sensor data to software in the cloud. Samsara's plug-and-play offering is built on "readily available" cellular networks and cloud-hosted infrastructure that's geared around simplicity and scalability.

Samsung

Top Executive: Tim Baxter, President, CEO, Samsung Electronics North America

Samsung's IoT offering centers around its Artik chip platform, which includes building blocks with built-in connectivity and an open software environment for wearables and other connected devices. Ridgefield, Park, N.J.-based Samsun Electronics Americas' Artik includes three hardware modules that bundle CPUs, GPUs, memory and storage with wireless network, sensors and video decoding features.

Sierra Wireless

Top Executive: Jason Cohenour, President, CEO

Sierra Wireless' portfolio, which includes routers and gateways, makes up the back end of IoT applications. The Richmond, Canada-based company says these products deliver a "future-proof" device-to-cloud architecture, targeted at OEMs and systems integrators, for building connected products.

Zebra Technologies

Top Executive: Anders Gustafsson, CEO

Zebra Technologies, Lincolnshired, Ill., specializes in the building blocks behind today's IoT technology, particularly in the automatic identification and data capture market -- including sensors, bar codes, RFID and wireless networks.