1) Originally, an OEM (original equipment manufacturer) was a company that supplied equipment to other companies to resell or incorporate into another product using the reseller's brand name. For example, a maker of unmanned (robotic) vehicles like iRobot might sell its robots, vacuums, or lawn mowers to a retailer like Sears to resell under a brand name owned by Sears. A number of companies, both equipment suppliers and equipment resellers, still use this meaning.

 

2) More recently, OEM is used to refer to the company that acquires a product or component and reuses or incorporates it into a new product with its own brand name. Also see value-added reseller (VAR), for a similar term applied to the repackaging of software.