Ingram Micro, NEXCOM, Build Digital Signage Relationship

Digital Signage — otherwise known as electronic advertising — is the fancy name for the technology behind those LCD adverts you may have seen popping up recently. Ingram Micro has thrown its hat in the ring and added another division to an already populated distribution channel. The end-to-end solution comes from a partnership with NEXCOM. Here’s the scoop:

NEXCOM has been in the digital signage industry for a while, but this will be the first time NEXCOM has found broad-line distribution with a big provider. NEXCOM offers nondescript silver boxes for nearly every application. Low-end Atom processor units for simple displays, all the way to AMD quad-core machines for 4 HD displays simultaneously.

Ingram Micro’s spiel is typical: They’re looking to give channel partners more opportunities to offer goods and services. But there’s another part of this story that’s pretty good: digital advertising is part of a growing trend. Ingram Micro’s press release claims that industry studies showed that live media improved sales than standard ink and paper.

Kevin Prewett, Vice President, Digital Signage Division and Vendor Management of Ingram Micro U.S.also claimed that “…results of our own studies indicate that one out of every five Ingram Micro solution providers surveyed plan to sell digital signage technology in 2010.” They don’t mention it, but there’s also a green-spin: less paper, since the screen is a ‘renewable’ billboard of sorts. Plus, a large amount of NEXCOM’s devices are fanless, providing a quiet and energy efficient operating environment (since we know that huge LCD is a power-hungry beast.)

Now that Ingram Micro is in the mix, it’ll be interesting to see the progression and proliferation of digital signage in 2010 and the years to come. It’s no doubt the wave of the future, but we’ve yet to have a tsunami of sorts.