November 2015
12
B
oards
& M
odules
Building application-ready intelligence
platforms for multiple vertical markets
Interview with Jim Liu, Founder and CEO of
ADLINK
ADLINK Technology is
celebrating its 20th anniversary.
Boards & Solutions talked
with ADLINK Founder and CEO,
Jim Liu, about his visions for
the industrial computing market and
the future strategy of his company.
This year, ADLINK Technology is celebrat-
ing its 20th anniversary. The company opened
its doors in August, 1995, in Taipei with the
goal of advancing technologies in the fields of
test and measurement (T&M), applied com-
puting, and automation.
Over the past 20 years, ADLINK has evolved
from a T&M instrument supplier to a leading
provider of robust, reliable solutions in indus-
trial automation, healthcare, defence, trans-
portation, communications, and infotainment,
while consistently growing its market share in
T&M. Recently, the company entered into an
agreement with Keysight (Electronic measure-
ment division spin-off from Agilent Technolo-
gies) to increase collaboration and investment,
an arrangement which has been integral in
the creation of five new technology labs for
in-house product validation and verification.
In addition, the company has risen in the Intel
IoT Solutions Alliance to become a Premier
member, one of only five in the Alliance.
Since 1995, ADLINK has expanded to 11
locations worldwide, employing more than
1600 people at local development centres
in each major region that it serves, includ-
ing EMEA, the Americas, China, and Asia
Pacific. Moreover, ADLINK has seen an aver-
age compound annual growth rate (CAGR)
of 17% over the last decade, far surpassing
those of its larger, more established compet-
itors. Company focus has broadened from
development of hardware building blocks to
full-scale creation of application-ready intel-
ligent platforms (ARIPs) and system-level
solutions across embedded form factors and
vertical markets. ADLINK has actively par-
ticipated in the advancement of industry
standards to help shape specifications inline
with demands expressed by its customer base,
including chairing or serving on committees
for PICMG (incl. AdvancedTCA and COM
Express), PC/104 Consortium, PXISA (PXI
Systems Alliance), AXIe Consortium, SGeT
(Standardization Group for Embedded Tech-
nologies), and ETSI (European Telecommuni-
cations Standards Institute) for Mobile Edge
Computing.
Boards & Solutions Magazine talked with
ADLINK founder and CEO Jim Liu, about his
vision for the industrial computing market
and future strategies at ADLINK.
B&S:
Can you tell us something about the
market position of your company today and
about your business opportunities?
JimLiu:
Since its foundation in 1995, ADLINK
has focused on the industrial computing field.
About 3 or 4 years ago we realized the cus-
tomers needed more than this and enhanced
our business model to offer complete build-
ing blocks. So, we extend our business model
beyond board level to the platform level, in
which we leverage board level expertise and
increase integration, to fulfil the needs of dif-
ferent vertical markets.
What is our goal? At ADLINK we focus on
succeeding first in the most demanding high-
end and mission critical vertical markets with
extreme operational conditions, like military
and aerospace. This is definitely one of our
goals. As well, we’re also examining markets
requiring the highest quality and accuracy
such as test & measurement, and automation.
“We want to succeed in demanding high-end
and mission critical vertical markets.”
