Sunmi

Sunmi (商米, 'Shangmi') is a Chinese commercial IoT hardware brand that designs and manufactures Android-based smart point-of-sale terminals, handheld payment devices, desktop cashier stations, self-service kiosks, label and receipt printers, and merchant-facing software tools. The company positions itself as a 'commercial IoT' platform: rather than selling only a cash register, it builds a family of connected devices plus an app ecosystem (Sunmi OS and the Sunmi app store) that third-party software vendors and payment providers can build on. Its customers span retail chains, restaurants and food service, convenience stores, supermarkets, logistics and courier operations, and hospitality, with a strong presence in China and growing distribution across Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. Sunmi was founded in Shanghai in 2013 by Jack Lin (Lin Zhe), who had earlier co-founded the Chinese POS maker PAX Technology. The brand rose to prominence on the back of the smartphone-to-merchant transition: it was among the first to push full-touch Android terminals into mass retail and restaurant use, and its compact handheld devices became widely used by delivery riders and small merchants in China's mobile-payment boom. The company sells largely through distributors, value-added resellers and software partners rather than direct-to-consumer channels, and it works closely with payment acquirers and app developers so that a merchant can run loyalty, ordering, inventory and payment software on Sunmi hardware. Sunmi is a private company and is not listed on a stock exchange. It has raised outside capital from venture and growth investors to fund international expansion and R&D, and it maintains a partner program that certifies software and hardware integrations. Its product families include the handheld V and P series, the desktop T and D series, the K series self-service kiosks, and a range of printers and accessories, alongside the Sunmi OS platform and developer tools. In the market, Sunmi competes with global POS hardware makers and with low-cost Chinese manufacturers, differentiating on design, build quality, an open Android ecosystem and a broad device portfolio that lets a merchant standardize on one vendor across counter, handheld and self-service form factors. The brand's messaging emphasizes 'smart' and 'connected' commerce hardware for small and medium businesses, and it has become one of the more visible Chinese commercial-hardware brands internationally.

Sunmi was founded in Shanghai in 2013 by Jack Lin (Lin Zhe), an entrepreneur who had previously co-founded the Chinese payment-terminal maker PAX Technology. The founding bet was that merchants would move from dedicated, closed cash registers to general-purpose, touchscreen Android devices — essentially smartphones repurposed for commerce — and that a hardware maker could win by pairing well-designed devices with an open software platform. In its early years the company focused on the Chinese market, where the rapid adoption of mobile payment (Alipay and WeChat Pay QR codes) created enormous demand for inexpensive, connected terminals among small merchants, delivery riders and chain stores. Sunmi's compact handheld devices, which combined a screen, printer and scanner in a pocketable form factor, became a recognizable sight in Chinese shops and food-delivery operations. The company built out a portfolio across handheld, desktop and self-service form factors and launched Sunmi OS plus an app store so that software partners could distribute merchant applications directly on its hardware. From the mid-2010s Sunmi expanded internationally, establishing distribution and partner networks across Asia-Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East and Africa. It courted independent software vendors and payment acquirers, positioning its devices as a neutral platform on which regional software could run, and it invested in design and certification to compete with established global POS hardware brands. The company also raised outside venture and growth capital to fund R&D and overseas expansion, while remaining privately held. By the 2020s Sunmi had become one of the more internationally visible Chinese commercial-hardware brands, with product families spanning handhelds, desktop terminals, kiosks and printers, and a developer ecosystem around Sunmi OS. Its trajectory reflects the broader shift of the POS industry from proprietary terminals toward open Android platforms and app-driven merchant software.

• 2020

  Continued global expansion into Latin America, Middle East and Africa.

• 2018

  Self-service kiosk line added to the product portfolio.

• 2016

  International distribution expansion across Asia-Pacific and Europe.

• 2015

  Sunmi OS and app ecosystem developed for software partners.

• 2014

  Early Android handheld and desktop POS devices aimed at Chinese merchants.

• 2013

  Sunmi founded in Shanghai by Jack Lin (Lin Zhe).

Affordable, design-led Android commercial IoT hardware and an open app ecosystem for retail, restaurant and logistics merchants.

• Sunmi V series

• Sunmi P series

• Sunmi T series

• Sunmi D series

• Sunmi K series

• Sunmi OS

• 2021-12-07

  商米 announces a new brand proposition[2]商米发布品牌新主张rfidworld.com.cn

  商米 announced a new brand proposition centered on using commercial IoT devices to bring digitalization to commercial scenarios and working with global ecosystem partners.

• 2019-10-29

  China Unicom IoT and Sunmi sign cooperation agreement[3]联通物联网与商米签署合作协议finance.sina.com.cn

  Reported: 2019-10-30

  China Unicom IoT Co., Ltd. and Shanghai Sunmi Technology Group Co., Ltd. signed a cooperation agreement in Nanjing to work together on digital stores, IoT technology innovation and commercial ecosystem development.

• 2019-09-23

  Sunmi launches three smart retail products[4]商米推出三款智能零售产品finance.sina.com.cn

  Reported: 2019-09-23

  Sunmi launched three new smart hardware products globally: the IPC Store Sense camera, the IPC Face Sense camera, and the ESL electronic price tag system.

1. 1Sunmi official websitesunmi.com
2. 2商米发布品牌新主张rfidworld.com.cn
3. 3联通物联网与商米签署合作协议finance.sina.com.cn
4. 4商米推出三款智能零售产品finance.sina.com.cn