Smartcom Partners with Zipit to Power Next-Gen Connected Products Around the World

The Challenge

As Smartcom signed up new smartwatch and consumer electronics brands to leverage its Platform-as-a-Service solution, it needed a scalable way to add global connectivity, SIM management, and service monetization to its offering.

The goal was to help customer brands launch connected products faster, expand into more countries, and avoid the operational burden of piecing together connectivity services market by market.

Without a partner like Zipit, Smartcom would have needed to establish and manage separate reseller relationships with carriers in each region, navigate different billing cycles and back-end systems, and divert significant focus away from its core strengths in application platforms, hardware, and software for connected products.

There was also a broader customer challenge: if connectivity were left to each individual brand, market expansion would be constrained by whatever carrier relationships those brands already had—if any at all. And, for some markets like North America, hardware would need to be network certified in advance to ensure devices could reliably connect to the popular mobile operators' networks in the United States and Canada. 

Smartcom wanted to offer connectivity as a managed service so its customers (ODMs, OEMs and consumer electronics brands) could access the coverage they needed across any region while accelerating time to market, and create recurring revenue streams through the delivery of ongoing value-added services to consumers.

"We wanted to simplify connectivity for every brand we support."

- Shane Armani, Worldwide Business & Strategic Alliances, Smartcom

The Solution

Smartcom chose Zipit because Zipit could provide a single, authorized source for multi-carrier connectivity services, along with the infrastructure needed to manage connectivity, subscriptions, and monetization at scale.

Zipit brought together several capabilities that aligned with Smartcom’s needs:

• IoT SIMs in the different form factors and delivery mechanisms Smartcom's clients need, depending on each customer's device requirements: Plug-in SIMs, embedded MFF2, etc.    
  
  
• Multi-carrier connectivity without requiring Smartcom or its customers to contract individually with carriers in each regional market. Zipit provides data services and data + voice service, depending on the needs of different Smartcom customers and their connectivity requirements
  
  
• A unified platform for managing connectivity lifecycles across SIMs, devices, customers, and carriers including cellular activation logic tied to subscription and payment status
  
  
• Centralized visibility into connection status, activation trends, and data usage across SIMs, device types, and customers, regardless of carrier
  
  
• Turnkey downstream monetization and end-user billing infrastructure
  
  
• Built-in support for multiple languages and currencies with day-one readiness for local language and currency needs depending on the different markets brands are expanding into
  
  
• Managed tax collection and filing support for different regional requirements
  
  
• API access that allowed Smartcom to integrate Zipit’s capabilities into the broader Smartcom platform

This combination enabled Smartcom to stay focused on its core product and platform strengths while offering customers a more complete and scalable global solution, including a path to recurring revenue through profit sharing.

Embedding Zipit’s API into Smartcom's platform created a more seamless experience for its customers and has strengthened Smartcom's value proposition as a technology and services partner to consumer electronics ODMs, OEMs, and brands.

The Results

The partnership has already helped enable several brands across the United States and Europe to launch commercially-available smartwatches using the combined Smartcom and Zipit solution, with other customers preparing to launch solutions in different consumer device categories throughout 2026.

Additional outcomes include:

• Faster path to market for brands entering new regions, and the chance to collect recurring revenue streams from value-added services
  
  
• Improved ability to deliver globally scalable connected services without the complexity of managing multiple carrier relationships independently
  
  
• Stronger market visibility for the joint solution, including Smartcom showcasing it at Mobile World Congress 2026 in Barcelona to representatives from telecommunications, IoT, and the broader electronics industry

"We're excited to join forces with Zipit to bring global connectivity and streamlined billing capabilities directly to our ODM, OEM and brand customers."