8.04 What is an OEM product?
Description
This item is from the PC Hardware FAQ, by Willie Lim and Ralph Valentino with numerous contributions by others. (v1.25).
8.04 What is an OEM product?
[From: scott@bme.ri.ccf.org (Michael Scott)]
OEM versions of may computer products including keyboards, CDROM drives, video and sound cards, modems, monitors, popular software packages and more are available, either as parts of a computer system purchase, or as individual items. If you are considering a purchase of any OEM hardware or software, it's important that you understand what you are buying.
OEM stands for Original Equipment Manufacturer. OEM's exist in most major industries; Chrysler sells cars made by Mitsubishi, and all of Sear's Kenmore products are made by OEM companies. The main difference in the computer industry is that OEM products are usually less expensive than the retail versions supplied by the manufacturer. However, there are different types of OEM products.
Some manufacturers have two versions of their products; one retail version which ships in fancy packaging, and an OEM version which is sold in bulk (usually to system manufacturers). OEM products are not intended for individual sale, and so don't include a glossy box, and often don't include a manual or driver disks (if req'd).
Sometimes, the OEM versions are functionally identical to the original retail version, but not always. Often, a large system manufacturer will specify particular features in an OEM product which are not the same as the retail version. For example, Matrox supplies OEM video cards to a large manufacturer (i.e. Compaq's QVision 2000+ video card). Because of the large numbers purchased, Compaq gets a good price, and also specifies things like: amount of video RAM, upgradability, RAMDAC speed, etc. Part of the deal is usually that Compaq will take over responsibility for the hardware warranty.
Hypothetically, say that Matrox makes 10000 extra units in anticipation of Compaq's next order, with a few small BIOS tweaks for compatibility with Compaq's machines. Compaq decides they only need 8000 units this quarter, so Matrox sells the extra 2000 units as OEM. Once those units go out of the factory, they're no longer Matrox's responsiblity, and probably don't even have Matrox stamped on them anywhere.
I'm just using Matrox and Compaq for illustrative purposes here, but component manufacturers commonly provide OEM versions of their products for systems manufacturers. i.e. ATI, Tseng and Cirrus Logic provide chipsets for integration onto motherboards.
Sometimes, the difference between a retail version and the equivalent OEM is negligible, i.e. the packaging. However, more commonly the OEM version has been made with less expensive components, includes no software or hardware 'freebies' or extras, includes no hardware warranty, etc.
So, be careful when buying OEM that you are getting what you _think_ you are getting. You may be saving $20-30 and get a slower RAMDAC or a unit that isn't upgradable. On the other hand, you may be one of the thousands of people who have good success with their OEM products and saved some money at the same time.
Often, the OEM (original manufacturer) will not provide any tech support or warranty service for OEM units.
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