Adrian J Cotterill, Editor-in-Chief
STRATACACHE this week announced the acquisition of an all-in-one intelligent tablet and computing device manufacturing company based in Ningbo, China.
As part of the acquisition, the company, formerly known as POPSCREENS, willl now be called Scala China. The aim of the rebranding is to strengthen solution visibility and brand presence in the global commercial market, positioning Scala China as a prime solution for interactive retail displays within the STRATACACHE family of marketing technology companies.
Chris Riegel, CEO of the STRATACACHE family of companies told us “We have demonstrated significant focus on growth in the important Asia-Pacific market, investing more than $100 million in the region in the past 24 months, including the acquisition of Scala. We are enjoying tremendous growth in the region with strong new leadership, a greatly expanded services team and a strategic focus on the markets in China, India, Indonesia and Malaysia. The Asia-Pacific region has added more than 2 billion consumers to the middle class in the past decade and we’re helping leading retailers, brands and marketers develop these new consumer relationships. Scala China is another step along that journey and, with the recent progress on US-China trade relations, now was the right time to move forward on this opportunity.”
Scala China will continue to produce advanced embedded computing devices, ranging from 7” to 98”.
Patrick Saletta, Chief Operating Officer said “The devices are ideal for 24×7 commercial use in interactive consumer engagement environments such as retail stores, gaming, hospitality and banking. With over 8,000 existing Scala customers worldwide, we will help expand opportunities in many strategic markets and client partnerships.”
As part of the acquisition, new infrastructure includes an expansive 250,000 square foot manufacturing facility and more than 125 new employees — including world-class research and development, scaled production and manufacturing lines, and design and software engineers with deep experience in the Rockchip platform, a core element of the smart touchscreen devices. There is also a new support and logistics center and China-based Network Operations Center, optimizing client services throughout the region, key factors in the STRATACACHE growth plan to hit USD 1 billion in sales by 2020. The acquisition drives a significant job increase including marketing, development, engineering, accounting and global support teams at STRATACACHE’s Dayton headquarters and operations facilities.
Li Fan, General Manager was quoted as saying “Our all-in-one platforms are enhanced with additional technology for mobile sensors, such as STRATACACHE’s own Walkbase sensors, and computer vision that exists in the STRATACACHE family today. Adding embedded computing devices to STRATACACHE’s robust suite of marketing technology for kiosk, point-of-sale and commercial tablet computing devices significantly enhances the full solution offering for the client.”
New Scala China leadership also includes David Wong, Vice President of Sales for Asia-Pacific.
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