May 22, 2012 CLOUD APPEALING TO ELECTRONICS MANUFACTURERS

Electronics manufacturers are increasingly looking to implement cloud solutions to go along with their hardware products. Berkery Noyes has seen companies such as Dell and IBM complete several acquisitions in this direction. With hardware manufacturing as a core component of their business model and enterprises moving their data centers onto the cloud, diversifying through acquisition is a logical course of action.

Regarding recent B2B cloud transactions, Dell has acquired Wyse Technology, AppAssure Software, Make Technologies and Clerity Solutions while IBM has acquired DemandTec. Some of Dell’s other competitors have been making cloud moves of their own.  For instance, Acer acquired iGware – a cloud technology developer – for $320 million in July 2011.

In the B2C space, consumers are asking for more storage, faster content streaming, and a wider selection of entertainment possibilities. Apple, through iCloud, and Amazon via the Kindle Fire tablet, have both paired cloud services with their hardware. Samsung is now making strategic moves to incorporate cloud services as well.

In early May, Samsung acquired mSpot, a cloud-based content provider. With this acquisition, Samsung hopes to improve the entertainment offerings for its line of smartphones and tablets. mSpot has several agreements with major studios to stream certain TV shows and movies straight to mobile phones. Likewise, an important aspect of the acquisition is to ensure an integrated experience for users across all of their Samsung devices.