Original design manufacturer

An original design manufacturer (ODM) is a company that designs and manufactures a product for another company; this is in contrast to an original equipment manufacturer (which manufactures a product to the specifications of another manufacturer) or an original brand manufacturer (which designs and manufactures its own products). ^{[1] [2] [3]} Some ODMs begin as OEMs and eventually become OBMs. ^[4] Some manufacturers may fit multiple categories, with a portion of revenue attributable to each kind of work. ^[5]

Examples

• Foxconn, Inventec, Quanta Computer, and Wistron were named by Nvidia as ODM partners using its HGX reference architecture and design guidelines in 2017. ^[6]
• Nokia (HMD) relies on ODMs for its post-2016 phones; in late 2019, it switched from relying on only one ODM to multiple ODMs. ^[7]
• Samsung designs and manufactures some OEM-used SSDs, and rebranded such SSDs to upstream companies such as Dell.
• MSI designs and manufactures some NVIDIA based graphics card, and rebranded such graphics cards to upstream companies such as Dell.
• ZOTAC designs and manufactures some NVIDIA based graphics card, and rebranded such graphics cards to upstream companies such as Lenovo.

Intellectual property

ODMs create their own intellectual property and patent it. ^{[8] [9]} Most of their patents are filed in the US, China, and Taiwan. In 2020, all of the top ten electronics ODMs in the world (by revenue) were Taiwanese. ^[10]

See also

• Electronics manufacturing services
• Original brand manufacturer
• Original equipment manufacturer
• Contract manufacturer

References

1. Mahan, Josh (12 Feb 2024). "OEM vs ODM: Manufacturing Key Differences". cc-techgroup.com. Retrieved 15 Nov 2025.
2. "Choosing the Right Manufacturing Partner: OEM vs. ODM vs. OBM Explained". connectedsourcing.com. 27 Jun 2024. Retrieved 15 Nov 2025.
3. Gilbourne, Adam (15 Sep 2025). "OEM vs. ODM vs. OBM – Key Differences Explained". easyimex.com. Retrieved 15 Nov 2025.
4. "World Intellectual Property Report 2022: The Direction of Innovation" (PDF). WIPO.int. Geneva: World Intellectual Property Organization. 2022. p. 53. doi:10.34667/tind.45356 . Retrieved 18 Nov 2025.
5. Ambashi, Masahito (2018). "Innovation Policy in ASEAN" (PDF). ERIA.org. Economic Research Institute for ASEAN and East Asia. p. 229. ISBN   978-602-5460-03-6 . Retrieved 18 Nov 2025.
6. "NVIDIA Partners with World's Top Server Manufacturers to Advance AI Cloud Computing". nvidia.com. 29 May 2017. Retrieved 18 Nov 2025.
7. "Despite sales decline, Nokia phones business saw its 1st positive earnings (EBIT) in Q4 2019". NokiaPowerUser.com. 31 Mar 2020. Retrieved 15 Nov 2025.
8. "Intellectual Property Policy". inventec.com. Retrieved 19 Nov 2025.
9. "Management of Intellectual Property". quantatw.com. Retrieved 19 Nov 2025.
10. Branstetter, Lee G.; Chen, Jong-Rong; Glennon, Britta; Zolas, Nikolas (Aug 2021). "NBER Working Paper No. 29117, Does Offshoring Production Reduce Innovation: Firm-Level Evidence from Taiwan" (PDF). NBER.org. National Bureau of Economic Research. p. 10. Retrieved 18 Nov 2025.