IGEL Technology is a company which manufacturers a type of computer hardware called thin client

Thin client

A thin client is a computer or a computer program which depends heavily on some other computer to fulfill its traditional computational roles. This stands in contrast to the traditional fat client, a computer designed to take on these roles by itself...

s. Headquartered in Bremen, Germany, IGEL is part of the privately owned 201 year old Melchers Group and has locations in the United States, United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Singapore.

History

In 1989, IGEL GmbH (IGEL) developed and distributed the first multi video graphic card for UNIX

Unix

Unix is a multitasking, multi-user computer operating system originally developed in 1969 by a group of AT&T employees at Bell Labs, including Ken Thompson, Dennis Ritchie, Brian Kernighan, Douglas McIlroy, and Joe Ossanna...

 environments. The company began to develop and sell computer terminals in 1992 and in 1997 introduced its first modern thin clients. Today, the IGEL product range includes traditional desktop form factors plus LCD integrated units, mobile tablets, quad screens and remote management software.

Studies

IGEL commissioned a study by the Fraunhofer Society

Fraunhofer Society

The Fraunhofer Society is a German research organization with 60 institutes spread throughout Germany, each focusing on different fields of applied science . It employs around 18,000, mainly scientists and engineers, with an annual research budget of about €1.65 billion...

's Fraunhofer Institute for Environmental, Safety and Energy Technology (UMSICHT) whose tests showed that PCs have twice the negative environmental impact compared to thin clients.

Recent

According to recent International Data Corporation

International Data Corporation

International Data Corporation is a market research and analysis firm specializing in information technology, telecommunications and consumer technology. IDC is a subsidiary of International Data Group...

 figures, IGEL ranks third in thin client shipments worldwide.

Competitors

Competitors in the market place include: LISCON

LISCON

LISCON is a software company creating management software for Thin Clients and a Linux based operating system for their Thin Clients and those of other manufacturers, as well as PCs. The company was founded in 2000 and filed for bancruptcy in May 2010...

, Neoware

Neoware

Neoware was a company that manufactured and marketed a type of computer hardware called thin clients.It also developed and marketed enterprise software, thin client appliances, and related services aimed at reducing the TCO of IT infrastructure....

 & HP, VXL, Wyse

Wyse

Wyse Technology is an American company that is a leading manufacturer in Cloud Client Computing. Products include thin client hardware and software as well as desktop virtualization. Other products include cloud software-supporting desktop computers, laptops, and mobile devices...

 and Fujitsu

Fujitsu

is a Japanese multinational information technology equipment and services company headquartered in Tokyo, Japan. It is the world's third-largest IT services provider measured by revenues....

beside others.