MSI

Performance indicators

2018: Revenue growth 11.4% to NT $118.68 billion

In 2018, MSI's revenue amounted to NT $118.68 billion ($3.85 billion), which is 11.4% more than a year earlier. Most of the company's revenues are brought by sales of video cards: they reached NT $40 billion ($1.29 billion) over the year.

The company earned about NT $20 billion ($649 million) in 2018 on the sale of motherboards. Another major area of ​ ​ MSI's work is laptops (gaming, corporate, workstations), the annual turnover of which turned out to be NT $30 billion ($973 million), reports ChannelNews.

By the end of 2018, video cards began to bring MSI the usual 20% of revenue, while at the peak associated with the cryptocurrency boom, the share reached 30-40%.

In 2018, the Taiwanese company delivered about 1.2 million gaming laptops, which is 10% more than in 2017. In previous years, there was a rise of about 20-30%. The average cost of a laptop sold for the year has practically not changed.

The DigiTimes portal, citing sources in the supply channel, writes that in 2018 MSI became the leader in the gaming laptop market in terms of shipments and profitability from the sale of such equipment. The company left behind former leader Asus.

MSI ended 2018 with net income of NT $6.04 billion ($195.7 million), which is 22.4% higher than a year ago. Approximately 80% of the profit and 70% of the company's revenue comes from the sale of products under its own brand.

MSI attributes its financial rise to big profits from gaming laptop and monitor sales, as well as strong performance in the first quarter of 2018, when demand for video cards spurred the cryptocurrency market.

According to MSI founder Joseph Hsu, the shortage of Intel processors in 2018 did not greatly affect the company's position in the laptop market due to its emphasis on gaming solutions, but the motherboard business suffered more. To solve this problem, MSI has increased the share of boards for high-performance systems (there is no shortage of chips for them) and models based on AMD processors.^[1]

Products

MSI production can be divided into three areas:

• component products (motherboards, video cards, servers, optical devices);
• electronics (laptops, audio and video players, multimedia PCs and peripherals);
• industrial electronics (industrial computer systems and boards).

Gradually, MSI is mastering the release of computer platforms, multimedia products (webcams, TV tuners, speaker systems, headphones). Since 2002, the company begins production of laptops, which are now widely represented in the manufacturer's range. Micro Star International is quite active in positioning itself in the netbook market, offering quite productive PCs at a reasonable price. For example, a series of WIND series mini-laptops based on the Intel Atom processor are popular around the world. MSI developers have already presented models of netbooks of the WIND and X-slim series with a built-in WiMax wireless data module.

In addition to developing motherboards, video cards, servers and workstations, optical drives, MSI manufactures consumer electronics devices, so-called IA devices or CE devices (Internet access tools), communication devices (for example, WebPad, SOHO router, Mega Stick, Tablet PC) and other products relevant for the post-PC period. The company is also actively exploring the possibility of developing related high-yield niches of the electronics market. For example, in 2007, at the CES consumer electronics show in Las Vegas (USA), MSI introduced the so-called NATO (Heartbeat Audition Transceiver On-the-go, which roughly means "hiking transceiver for heart rate control"). This laptop PC constantly monitors the activities of the owner's heart and can transfer data to the hospital using the built-in Wi-Fi wireless adapter, which allows doctors to monitor the patient's condition online.

Motherboards for Intel

The following are descriptions of MSI products as of December 2011.

• Socket2011 (X79 chipset)

A series of motherboards based on the Kh79 chipset with a Socket2011 connector for second-generation Intel Core i7 processors has 4 models: X79A-GD65 (8D), X79A-GD65, X79A-GD45 and X79MA-GD45. All use Military Class III components: tantalum core capacitors (Hi-c CAP), SFC chokes (Super Ferrite Choke) and solid state capacitors (Solid CAP).

The top-end MSI X79A-GD65 (8D) board is equipped with 8 DDR3 slots, 6 PCI-Express slots (five PCI-Express x16 and one PCI-Express x1) and supports SLI and CrossFireX technologies. It also has 8 SATA ports (4 SATA II at up to 3 GB/s and 4 SATA III at up to 6 GB/s). The motherboard X79A-GD65 has similar functionality, but is equipped with only 4 slots for DDR3 RAM.

X79A-GD45 and X79MA-GD45 motherboards are distinguished from older models by fewer PCI-Express x16 slots and USB ports. At the same time, the latter is the only MicroATX form factor board.

• Socket1155 (chipsets Z68, P67, H67, H61)

Z68 In total, 15 MSI motherboards of revisions G3 (includes support for PCI-E 3.0) and B3 are presented on the Z68 chipset. The top models on this chipset are Z68-GD80 (G3 )/( B3) motherboards. At the same time, the MSI Z68-GD80 (G3) was the world's first PCI-E board. These motherboards are made in the ATX form factor using Military Class II components.

In addition, there are 4 MicroATX motherboards in the line: Z68MA-G43 (G3), Z68MA-G45 (G3 )/( B3), Z68MA-ED55 (B3).

P67/ H67 and H61 Based on the P67 chipset, MSI has developed 12 motherboards of various parameters, form factors and configurations. All motherboards in this series use Military Class II components. The Big Bang-Marshal (B3) motherboard of XL-ATX size deserves special attention. Due to the original passive cooling system from a combination of four different-sized radiators and an 8 mm thick heat pipe with MSI SuperPipe technology, the operating temperature of the system is significantly reduced. Among the interesting features of the board are 8 PCI-E x16 slots with support for SLI and CrossFireX technologies in combination with the Lucid HYDRA chip, which allows you to use video adapters of various configurations. For convenient overclocking and displaying the necessary information, the kit includes an OC Dashboard with an LED screen.

Also, 12 motherboards are presented on the H67 chipset with an integrated graphics core. In addition, MSI has also developed 11 motherboards on a simpler H61 chipset. In the budget series of boards, some Military Class elements are used: solid capacitors (Solid Cap). In addition, MSI produces a wide range of motherboards based on X58 chipsets (including the well-known Big Bang-XPower), P55/H57/H55, as well as chipsets for LGA775.

Motherboards for AMD

• Socket AM3+

As of December 2011, 8 models of MSI motherboards with Socket AM3 + are presented in Russia, nominally intended for AMD processors with the Bulldozer microarchitecture, but functioning with previous generation processors. The top-end 990FXA-GD80 board deserves special attention. The main distinguishing feature of the motherboard due to the new chipset is support for SLI technology from nVidia. Earlier chipsets from AMD supported only similar CrossFire technology. In light of this innovation, there is no doubt about the relevance of 4 PCI-E x16 slots and 2 PCI-E x1 slots. Energy efficiency and reliability 990FXA-GD80 improved with Military Class II components.

• Socket AM3

The MSI product line includes more than 40 motherboards with Socket AM3. Among them are about 10 nVidia boards with a built-in graphics chip.

The flagship model is the 890FXA-GD70, which implements the exclusive Unlock CPU core technology, which allows you to unlock processor cores through the BIOS. The use of Military Class components increases the service life of the board and ensures stable operation during overclocking of the system, which can be carried out even by an ordinary user. To do this, OC Genie technology was implemented, which determines the optimal processor overclocking settings a few seconds after pressing a special button on the board.

Also noteworthy is the 870A Fuzion Power Edition motherboard. This is the only card for AMD processors with Lucid Hydra technology that allows you to implement several graphics cards of a non-identical configuration. As in the older model, the board uses the Military Class element base (Hi-c CAP tantalum core capacitors, Icy Choke chokes and Solid CAP solid state capacitors).

• Socket FM1

There are currently 7 MSI motherboards available for AMD A-series processors with integrated graphics. Of course, the top models are A75A-G55 (ATX form factor) and A75MA-G55 (MicroATX form factor). Both boards use Military Class II elements that meet the Department of Defense 810G standard. USA They also implement AMD proprietary technologies: Cool'n "Quiet, CrossFireX and AMD Dual Graphics, which allows you to increase system performance by interacting the built-in processor graphics kernel with discrete Radeon HD6000 series graphics cards.

In addition, the motherboards have the best proprietary MSI technologies: instant overclocking due to OC Genie II technology, ClickBios GUI on UEFI, Winki 3 free operating system on the Linux kernel, etc.

nVidia Graphics Cards

• GeForce 500 series

The flagship of the N590GTX-P3D3GD5 series, despite the reference design and stock frequencies, has acquired a number of current additions from MSI. Due to the proprietary overclocking utility Afterburner, developed in conjunction with one of the creators of RivaTuner, users can easily and comfortably unleash the overclocking potential of the card. The video adapter is equipped with 3 gigabytes of DDR5 memory (3414 MHz) and supports DirectX11, OpenGL 4.1, PhysX, Quad SLI. N580GTX Lightning graphics cards are especially popular among overclockers and gamers. Compared to the reference card, the GPU clock frequency is increased to 800 MHz, and memory - to 1024 MHz.

The Twin Frozr II cooling system, which is an aluminum radiator with a copper base and two 80 mm fans, three 6 mm and two 8 mm heat removal pipes, combined with Military Class II components not only contributes to efficiency and reliability, but also provides excellent acceleration potential. According to the performance rating of the well-known international portal hwbot.org, the first 3 places are occupied by MSI N580GTX Lightning video cards.

In addition, the high demand for this model is due to low cost compared to leading competitors.

• GeForce 400 series

The top model MSI N480GTX Lightning immediately after the release gained popularity among overclockers and gamers. Enthusiasts from Sweden with this card managed to set a world performance record by overclocking the GPU to 1450 MHz. MSI N480GTX Lightning is equipped with a Twin Frozr III cooling system and DDR3 memory with a total volume of 1536 MB.

In the mass market, the N460GTX Hawk mid-range model has also proven itself well due to the optimal price/quality ratio.

ATI Graphics Cards

• Radeon HD 6000 series

The top graphics card ATI Radeon R6990-4PD4GD5 in the reference design is equipped with more stable capacitors on solid electrolyte MSI Solid Capacitor. In addition, the package includes proprietary software from MSI, including an advanced utility for overclocking Afterburner.

In MSI design, the most powerful ATI graphics card is R6970 Lightning. Instead of the nine-phase (6-2-1) power supply circuit of the reference Radeon HD 6970, this model uses an eighteen-phase power supply circuit. In addition, the graphics card uses Military Class components - capacitors with a solid-state electrolyte (service life 10 years higher than analogues), Hi-c CAP tantalum capacitors, SFC (Super Ferrite Choke) chokes. Factory overclocking combined with an efficient Twin Frozr III cooling system allowed an increase in performance of about 7-9%.

• Radeon HD 5000 series

MSI Radeon 5870 Lightning is the flagship of the 5000 series among non-referential cards. This model is equipped with a 15-phase power supply system and proprietary Military Class components with an increased service life. Twin Frozr II dual-slot active air cooling system with two 80mm fans and heat tubes contributes to more efficient heat removal.

MSI in Russia

2021: Reduced warranty period for video cards from 36 to 6 months due to miners

In April 2021, MSI reduced the warranty period for video cards in Russia from 36 to 6 months. The following accelerators fell under the restrictions:

• Radeon RX 570 MINER 8G;
• Radeon RX 580 MINER 8G;
• Radeon RX 5500 XT MINER;
• Radeon RX 5600 XT MINER;
• Radeon RX 5700 MINER;
• Radeon RX 5700 XT MINER;
• GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER GAMING X RU;
• GeForce RTX 2060 GAMING Z RU;
• GeForce RTX 2060 SUPER VENTUS OC RU;
• GeForce RTX 2060 VENTUS OC RU;
• GeForce RTX 2060 VENTUS XS OC RU;
• GeForce GTX 1660 VENTUS XS OC RU;
• GeForce GTX 1660 SUPER VENTUS XS OC RU;
• GeForce RTX 3060 VENTUS 2X OC RU;
• GeForce RTX 3060 Ti VENTUS 2X OC RU;
• GeForce RTX 3070 VENTUS 3X OC RU;
• GeForce RTX 3080 VENTUS 3X 10G OC RU;
• GeForce RTX 3090 VENTUS 3X OC RU.

MSI also recalled that partial damage to the warranty seal is not a reason for refusing the warranty, but replacing the thermal interface or cooling system deprives the official warranty. In addition, the company believes that throttle noise under load on the video card is not a warranty case in most cases.

MSI has reduced the warranty period for video cards in Russia from 36 to 6 months due to miners

As noted by RIA Novosti"," although the Taiwanese manufacturer did not give the reasons for reducing the warranty period by six times, it is obvious that this was due to miners. The latter not only provoked a multiple increase in the cost of video cards, but also often face a failure of equipment that is not designed for round-the-clock work, the to mining cryptocurrencies agency explains.

The warranty conditions for MSI video cards include many reasons for refusing warranty repairs. Among them is "use for profit." Here we are talking about the extraction of cryptocurrencies, although in the names of some graphic accelerators from the list with a stripped-down guarantee there is the word "miner." Warranty repairs may also be refused in case of:

• presence of mechanical, thermal or chemical damages;
• attempts at self-repair or unskilled repairs in third-party service centers;
• Purchases from unauthorized MSI dealers
• The product cannot be identified because there are no serial numbers.^[2]

2011

Since November 2011, the PR support of the Russian representative office of MSI has been provided by Eventum Premo.

2005

In 2005, an MSI representative office was opened in Russia.

In April 2009, MSI opened a new office of the Russian representative office in Moscow and presented the latest products of the company. The face of the company in Russia was the famous heavyweight boxer Nikolai Valuev, who symbolizes the breadth of the Russian market, as well as MSI's ambitious plans to conquer it.

Product quality

In 1995 and 1996, the company received international certificates of conformity between ISO-9002 and ISO-9001. And in 1999, MSI received a certificate of compliance with ISO-14001 environmental protection requirements. MSI notes that all the company's products are being severely selected at the production stage. This made it possible to achieve that the yield of good products is 99.6 %. It is worth noting that this percentage significantly exceeds the industry average.

Service

As part of the global service and repair service, MSI set up a dedicated customer service department and set up a hotline and opened a website. With the help of the website, the company provides uninterrupted post-sale customer service around the world. MSI emphasizes that in each of the divisions of the company a service and repair network is organized and operates, which allows you to carry out customer service 24 hours a day. Providing timely delivery of products, as well as trade and technical support, MSI has organized its divisions and service centers in different countries and regions of the world, including Russia.

History

2023

Theft of 1.5 TB of product sources

On April 7, 2023, MSI reported a cyber attack on its IT infrastructure. The attackers managed to steal 1.5 TB of information related to a variety of company products - from desktops and laptops to motherboards and graphics accelerators.

Recently, MSI was subjected to a cyber attack targeting part of the company's information systems. When network anomalies were detected, the security department promptly activated the necessary protection mechanisms and carried out restoration work, as well as reported the incident to state law enforcement agencies and relevant structures. The affected systems are gradually resuming normal operation, the attack did not have a significant impact on the business, the official statement said.

Attackers managed to steal 1.5 TB of information from MSI

The cybercriminal group Money Message claimed responsibility for the hack. The attackers claim that they stole data from CTMS and ERP systems: the source codes of the MSI software, cryptographic keys, etc. were stolen. It is noted that this information can be used to create firmware and BIOS revisions containing malicious code. Then such digitally signed files can be distributed through various sites on the Internet. The consequences of installing such an "update" may be the saddest.

Cybercriminals threaten to publish stolen data if MSI does not pay a $4 million ransom within days. MSI itself encourages users to download firmware and BIOS updates only from the company's official website and not use files from third-party sources.

It is noted that the Money Message ransomware gang first became known at the end of March 2023. Attackers attack companies, steal or encrypt information, and then demand a large ransom.^[3]

Motherboard scrap that allows you to run the OS without checking their security

On January 13, 2023, Polish IT security researcher Dawid Potocki reported the discovery of a dangerous vulnerability in about 300 MSI motherboard models. The flaw allows you to download any image of the operating system, regardless of whether it has a digital signature.

As it turned out, MSI in one of the firmware updates disabled the Secure Boot function on its boards. This tool ensures that only trusted (signed) software is running during the computer boot process. If the signatures are valid, the firmware transfers control to the operating system. Otherwise, the download process stops to protect the data stored on the PC. The function, in particular, is designed to prevent the launch of UEFI bootkits/rootkits.

Hundreds of MSI motherboard models have factory hole that allows OS to run without checking their safety

Potocki claims that firmware updates released by MSI between September 2021 and January 2022 changed the default Secure Boot settings. As a result, the operating system can boot even if the digital signature changes, which poses a significant threat to the security of the PC and personal data of the user. The issue affects more than 290 models of MSI motherboards for AMD and Intel processors. It turned out that although Secure Boot is enabled, the Run Image Policy is set to Always. This allows the system to boot even if there are security violations.

David Potocki says he tried to contact MSI but received no response. To solve the problem, users need to independently activate the "Prohibit execution" option for "Removable media" and "Fixed media": this will make it possible to download only signed software.^[4]

2022: Recall of defective coolers

On March 10, 2022, MSI announced a voluntary recall of its MAG CoreLiquid 360R universal liquid cooling systems and 240R following reports by some users of unusually high processor temperatures. After examining the question, MSI determined that "a small fraction" of these models are prone to sediment formation, which can lead to clogging. Read more here.

2020: The death of the general director as a result of a fall from the 7th floor

In early July 2020, MSI President and CEO Sheng-Chiang Chiang passed away. The cause of death was the fall from the seventh floor of the headquarters of the company, which is located in Taiwan. Read more here.

2019: Sheng-cheng Chiang is MSI's new CEO

In early April 2019, it became known about the appointment of Sheng-cheng Chiang as the new president and CEO of MSI. The Taiwanese computer component manufacturer has updated the management team as a whole. Read more here.

2011

For 2011, MSI is in the Top 3 component manufacturers. MSI is one of the top three motherboard manufacturers, along with Asus and Gigabyte. The company's products are represented in more than 120 countries. In 2011, more than 150 million motherboards and more than 100 million MSI graphics cards were sold worldwide. As of December 2011, the company has 14,000 employees.

2010

In 2010, MSI introduced the Big Bang Fuzion motherboard with Lucid Hydra technology, which allowed for the first time in the world to implement several graphics cards of a non-identical configuration.

2008

In 2008, the company's turnover reached $3.14 billion, an increase of 14% compared to 2007. In 2009, MSI plans to bring this figure to $3.61 billion. The company attaches great importance to the business of ready-made solutions, where, in addition to laptops, it will promote all-in-one computers. As for motherboards, in this segment MSI is still one of the leaders (in 2008, growth in this segment was 9%).

In the first quarter of 2009, the company increased production of goods. In particular, the volume of deliveries of video cards and motherboards in the first three months of this year exceeded all expectations, which even led to a slight shortage. As part of the production optimization, MSI plans to reduce about 10% of personnel during 2009. However, the company's management explains that such measures are just part of the workflow.

2002-2005

In 2002, the company developed and manufactured the world's first motherboard PC2PC Bluetooth & WLAN.

Also in 2002, Micro Star International founded Microteck Computer in Kunshan, China, one of the tasks of which is to organize the maintenance and repair of MSI products around the world. The manufacturer invested $90 million in the new division . Thanks to Microteck Computer, MSI responds quickly and sensitively to requests and complaints from users and distributors around the world.

In 2004, the company's first laptop, the MSI MegaBook M510C, will debut on the market. The platform was based on Intel Pentium M processors.

In 2005, an MSI representative office was opened in Russia.

1995-1998

1995 - MSI produced the first Dual Pentium Pro board.

1997 - The beginning of production of the first MSI graphics cards.

1998 - MSI becomes a public company and lists its shares on the Taipei Stock Exchange (TAIEX) and opens its offices in North America and Australia.

1986-1987

The history of MSI began in August 1986 in Taiwan, when former managers of the Japanese corporation Sony (Joseph Hsu, Jeans Huang, Frank Lin, Kenny Yu and Henry Lu) decided to open their own business. They had at their disposal one million, which was dollars given by investors on the condition that in a year this money should not only pay off, but also make a profit. Immigrants from Sony called their brainchild Micro Star International or short MSI.

In 1987, MSI produced the world's first overclocked motherboard. However, neither a year or two later, the company was able to work out the money invested in it, and there was no question of profit. It is worth noting that for the happiness of the creators of MSI, investors came across patient - financing continued, despite losses. Eventually, the investment began to bear fruit - MSI began to gradually increase sales of its motherboards. So the start of one of the leading IT companies in Asia was given.

The company's first products under its own brand appeared only in the second half of the 90s of the 20th century. From the very beginning, the company specialized in the production of motherboards. Most Micro Star International products are manufactured for the OEM market, meaning MSI sells its products to other manufacturers as components for their products. The company implements motherboards and other electronic components that are subsequently used in computers from such well-known manufacturers as Acer, Dell and Hewlett-Packard.

Awards

2007 - At one of the world's largest computer exhibitions Computex, which takes place annually in Taipei (Taiwan), the MSI P35 Platinum Combo motherboard won the Best Choice award.

2008 - MSI becomes the best company according to Computex 2008 and receives an award for the promotion of new technologies from the Ministry of Economy of Taiwan.

Notes