Australia’s leading PC maker, South Australia’s Allied Corporation (Allied), is taking its Chromebook manufacturing partnership with Google international.  Allied and Google Education executives are in Pakistan to sign an agreement that will see Allied and Google partner with the Pakistan Minister of Education to produce more than 500,000 Google Chromebooks for use in that country’s education system and digital enterprises. 

On Thursday 20 June, the Prime Minister of Pakistan, Shehbaz Sharif, signed a Letter of Understanding with Google, part of which includes the procurement of an initial 500,000 Allied Chromebooks worth an estimated $200M AUD. The deal will see Allied establish local manufacturing in Pakistan to produce the Chromebooks by 2025, making them more affordable for educational purposes. The goal is to ensure that every student in the country has access to cutting-edge classroom technology, which will enhance their learning experience.

Allied will also produce and market their high value, high capability PCs for Pakistani gamers*, as well as provide important new capabilities, technology infrastructure and hardware in Pakistan.

The Pakistan agreement follows an agreement in January for Allied to make Google Chromebook laptops for Australian school students, the only such agreement made by Google in Australia and New Zealand with a manufacturing partner. The first of these laptops have been used by South Australian students in three pilot programs with local schools, two of which were completed earlier this year and the third concludes this school term.

Allied CEO Aron Saether-Jackson commented from Pakistan: “This is a significant step for Allied; we already have a global customer base for our PCs and now we enter the global stage as a manufacturer.”

“Our commitment to excellence and cutting-edge technology positions us well to meet the diverse and evolving needs of Asian consumers, from students and professionals to businesses seeking robust IT infrastructure.”

“While there are often questions around Australian manufacturing, at Allied we are showing Australians can produce quality kit and export our knowhow and capabilities. There are big opportunities in many Asian centres for not just producing the Chromebook but also providing great PCs and other hardware.

““The Pakistan Government is determined to drive digital literacy and connectivity, education and advancement, and this agreement will underpin this growth. Not just Pakistan, but other Asian rapidly growing economies, are investing heavily in digital transformation initiatives. Governments and businesses alike are prioritizing the modernization of IT infrastructure, driving demand for high-performance computers, enterprise solutions and capabilities. By entering this market, we can tap into a vast pool of potential customers and establish ourselves with our reliable and high performing PCs,” Aron Saether-Jackson said.

Dr. Khalid Maqbool Sidiqqui, Federal Minister of Education and Professional Training, said while meeting the Allied team, “We believe that technology can play a vital role in improving learning outcomes and preparing our students for the future.”

Farhan S. Qureshi, Google Pakistan's country director, says: "This partnership has the potential to transform education in Pakistan for the better, giving millions of students access to education and digital tools that will help them learn better and get ready for the digital economy."

About Allied Corporation and the Allied and Google Education Partnership

Proudly Australian headquartered, Allied currently operates from three facilities in Adelaide’s western suburbs, building high-spec machines for gamers across Australia, North America, Europe and South-East Asia, as well as clients after high spec hardware including US-based defence and space industries, Australian-based health care, infrastructure, design and other high-tech organisations.

In January this year Allied commenced a partnership with global giant Google which saw Allied become the first manufacturer in Australia/New Zealand to be approved by Google to manufacture the Chromebook. Chromebooks are easy-to-use, secure, and affordable laptops that encourage collaboration between students and teachers.

The partnership gives Allied access to Google IP and design standards to manufacture the devices in Adelaide. The first Chromebook laptops made by Allied are now being used in South Australian schools and the aim is to make Chromebooks produced in Australia widely available for Australian educators and PC users.  At this time, Allied has the facilities to produce 100,000 Chromebooks a year, and it looks to expand and develop, with appropriate support and capital, its Australian manufacturing facilities.

Allied’s founders and senior people bring decades of experience in building and making high quality PCs and hardware. The assembly crew, product development team, customer service reps and content creators are gamers, technologists and engineers. Harnessing that passion and knowhow, Allied was created in 2017 with a mission to create, build and market the best quality equipment.