OEM typically stands for Original Equipment Manufacturer.
Ususally an OEM product whether it's hardware or software, is a product
manufactured and sold to another company that will use it in the
manufacture/assembley of a product to be sold.
Usually, the product (in this example we'll use a HD) is manufactured by a
company (perhaps Seagate), and packaged to be sent to another company that
will use the product (A Seagate HD in this example) in the
assembly/construction of a product (A Computer system for this example) that
that company will sell.
because the OEM product will end up inside another product, it's usually
packaged differently quite often with no frills at all, no instructions,
cables, mounting hardware etc. as part of the OEM agreement to sell the
product (HD) to the assembling company at a low cost, the assembling company
agrees to support the product themselves, thus eliminating the
responsability of support from the original manufacturer. If the original
manufacturer doesn't need to support the product directly, it can pass that
savings onto the purchaser (the assembly company).
Sometimes because the assembly company only wants certain features enabled,
or they want the product slightly customized, they will contract with the
manufacturer to produce a customized version of the product specifically for
that assembly company. This happens especially with sound cards years ago.
Thus....
The equipment is still manufactured by the same original company. It is
simply packaged differently and sold at a lower cost to a third party
whether it's an assembly company or your local computer shop. it 'may' be a
customized/personalized version of the original product.
Part of the arrangenmt between the original manufacturer and the assembly
company is that the assembly company agrees to support the product to the
end user themselves.
This is why if youy run down to your local computer shop, they may sell two
hard drives, both from Seagate for example, one is in a retail box along
with the usual mounting brackets, instructions, cables etc. and the other
Seagate HD is just in a plastic clamshell conainer. No box, no cable, no
instructions, etc.
the retail boxed version will usually cost a bit more, but if you have a
problem, you get support directly from the manufacture, in this example
right from Seagate.
the OEM packaged drive, just in it's plastic clamshell is usually cheaper,
sometimes the warranty period is different as well, but if you have a
problem, then it's that local shop that you turn to. Not Seagate.
Same thing works for software.
If you buy a retail boxed version of Windows, you get support directly from
Microsoft.
If you buy a Dell or a Gateway, etc that includes an OEM version of Windows,
then you turn to Dell or Gateway for support NOT Microsoft.
