Fibocom believes the industrial sector is the main beneficiary of 5G technology in IoT applications, and the company used last week’s Electronica trade show in Munich to showcase some of its latest innovations.

“A lot of industrial companies are realising the opportunities that 5G will give,” said Stefan Koltes, Fibocom sales director. “We are talking about smart factories and robotics.”

Connectivity is the key to implement IoT infrastructure worldwide. Scenarios that require broader bandwidth and lower latency can benefit from 5G technologies.

“It is about high data rates and low latency,” said Paul Shelley, senior director at Fibocom. “Companies don’t want to be static, they want to be dynamic. They want their robots running around being dynamic.”

With its first 5G module launched in 2019, Fibocom has more than twenty 5G modules deployed in over 100 customer devices globally.

“Our commitment is very high in the 5G market,” said Shelley. “We are working with major chip makers such as Qualcomm, UniSoC and MediaTek. Every chip supplier has pros and cons; it depends on what kind of vertical.”

Fibocom was founded 23 years ago in China and now has 2000 employees with sixty per cent of them working in R&D.

“We are not just about products,” said Shelley. “We want to find customer pain points. That is why we have a block of R&D workers.”

Fibocom also announced last week that it had increased its investment and acquired 100% of the equity in Rolling Wireless, which remains a standalone company with no change to its structure, team or locations.

Rolling Wireless is a supplier of cellular network access devices to the automotive industry. The limited liability company is headquartered in Luxembourg and was established in 2020 by the divestiture of Sierra Wireless’ automotive division to a consortium of investors led by Fibocom.

Fibocom, which originally held 49% of the equity in Rolling Wireless, has now acquired the remaining 51%, previously owned by three professional investment institutions.

“As we continue to grow our business, it is critically important for our organisation to remain independent and led by automotive experts,” said Dan Schieler, CEO of Rolling Wireless. “Fibocom understands and supports our core mission, which is to be the most reliable and secure wireless provider for the global automotive industry. The transaction provides unprecedented access to capital and strategic backing for Rolling Wireless’ growth initiatives, such as 5G and V2X, and we are confident that the transaction will further enhance our ability to serve automotive OEMs and tier-one suppliers.”

Peter Zhang, board chair of Fibocom, said: “The full acquisition of Rolling Wireless is part of our strategy to extend our penetration in the IoT market. Our aim is to help Rolling Wireless continue to deliver world-class automotive connectivity and enhance their profitability. Rolling Wireless’ headquarters will remain in Europe, and its global R&D, system engineering, quality and sales teams will continue to support Rolling Wireless’ customers and partners as before.”

Schieler added: “We will continue to strengthen our footprint in key regions such as Europe, as illustrated by the opening of an additional development site in Hungary earlier this year, while benefiting from Fibocom’s long-term investment horizon. In short, we will continue to be the world’s leading automotive connectivity supplier in the years to come.”