Quanta Computer Inc

Quanta Computer is a major computer manufacturer commissioned by well-known brands such as HP, Dell and Apple. The company is the world's largest contract supplier of laptops.

In the face of falling demand for mobile PCs, Quanta has embarked on the development of various electronics, including home entertainment systems, smartphones, tablets, automotive devices and navigation equipment. The staff of the company exceeds 60 thousand people.

History

2021: Data theft from REvil ransomware attacks

At the end of April 2021, a well-known gang hackers-extortioners REvil announced that it had stolen data from Taiwanese manufacturer Quanta Computer, including product drawings. Apple

REvil, also known as Sodinokibi, said on its darknet forum that Quanta refused to pay for the return of stolen data. Now the actions of ransomware are aimed at the company's main client - Apple. As evidence of the hack, REvil published screenshots with a MacBook scheme and threatened to publish new data every day until Apple or Quanta paid a ransom. It is assumed that the amount demanded by the group is $50 million.

Hackers hacked Quanta Computer, began to disclose the company's trade secrets and demand a ransom of $50 million

It is possible that Apple is not the only Quanta client whose data was stolen. REvil in its letter also listed other customers who use Quanta including,,,,,, Dell Hewlett-Packard Alienware Amazon Cisco Systems Fujitsu Gericom,,, Lenovo LG Electronics Maxdata,, MPC,,,,,,, and Microsoft. Blackberry Sharp Siemens Sony Sun Microsystems Toshiba Verizon Wireless Vizio

Our team is negotiating the sale of a large number of confidential drawings and personal data with several large brands, hackers wrote. - We recommend that Apple redeem the available data by May 1.

Neither Apple nor Quanta commented on this statement.

REvil's previous cyber attacks targeted the well-known law firm Grubman Shire Meiselas & Sacks and foreign currency provider Travelex. The attack on Travelex is notable for the fact that the company paid a ransom of $2.3 million for the decryption key to restore its network. In the past, REvil also auctioned stolen data.^[1]

2014

Quanta collaborates with Facebook, Amazon, Google and Microsoft

From the October publication of Bloomberg where the agency referred to the head of the American representative office of Quanta Mike Yang, followed that in 2014 the company recorded almost 10-fold increase in demand for the equipment for data centers in comparison with previous year. In addition to Facebook, Quanta's direct server supply partners are Microsoft, Google and Amazon.^[2]

In March 2014, DigiTimes reported that by the end of the year, Quanta hopes to increase the share of direct server deliveries to 90%.

Quanta increases direct deliveries of Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft servers

The brainless servers that Quanta emphasizes do not require large R & D investments and licensing fees, so they usually cost a third or two-thirds less than systems from large brands like HP or Dell .

Some low-cost server providers use the Open Compute Project initiative to promote open server platforms that optimize hardware for specific tasks and do not overpay for unnecessary components. Open Compute Project supports Facebook, Google and Microsoft, designing server racks on their own.

Quanta's competitors in the server market

On May 1, 2014, Foxconn and HP created a joint venture to produce servers for data centers of cloud providers. Collaborating with HP generates Quanta nearly half of its revenue.

The partnership between Foxconn and HP worried Cisco and Dell: the companies suggested that Foxconn would reduce the amount of research work on their servers, as well as weaken their support. Against this background, rumors arose about the change of contract partner between Cisco and Dell. Among those who can get orders for the release of servers are named, in addition to Quanta Computer, also by Wistron, Inventec and Mitac International.

2011: Start of direct deliveries of Quanta servers

For a long time, Quanta assembled computer equipment commissioned by large manufacturers, but in April 2011 it became known that the company decided to engage in direct server deliveries (without first transferring to the brand, which applied its labeling to the products). One of Quanta's first customers was the world's largest social network, Facebook.

The release of servers directly to customers brought Quanta about 44% of the revenue generated by the server division in 2011. Then the Taiwanese company expected to increase the share of sales of its own systems to 65% in 2012 and achieve an 85% indicator in another year.

Notes