Gateworks: Excellent Embedded Wireless Platforms with Great Service

A few years ago I helped my main client design in a Gateworks CPU board into the next revision of one of their best-selling products. Gateworks sells CPU boards with Intel XScale processors. They have mini-PCI slots intended to be used with mPCI radio cards. (Despite mPCI being an old technology, there are many flavors of radio cards available in mPCI form factor.)

Gateworks is one of the best vendors I’ve worked with:

• Flexible population options – Gateworks will purchase and populate any part you want on their boards, if you order at least 100 pieces. They have cool custom software they designed to highlight customization options to the people running the board assembly machines.
• Willingness to re-spin their boards for customer requests – Gateworks will change their boards’ design to accommodate customers ordering several thousand pieces.
• Problem solving – Gateworks goes out of its way to solve problems with products using their boards, even if it’s not clear their board is at fault.
• Reasonable prices – Gateworks has its own pick-and-place machine to stuff boards, so they’re not paying overhead to CMs.
• Privately Held – Gateworks is owned (as far as I know) by a couple friendly guys in San Luis Obispo, a town which vaguely reminds me of a smaller Madison. They do not face pressures from investors to focus on things that look good in the short run at the expense of not supporting their products well.

Here is the Gateworks holiday card this year:
My only relationship with them is that my main client buys from them, which makes my life easier. I've never done work for them or received any payment from them in any form.