Micro-Star International
Micro-Star International Co., Ltd. (commonly known as MSI; Chinese: 微星科技股份有限公司) is a Taiwanese multinational information technology corporation headquartered in New Taipei City, Taiwan. It designs, develops and provides computer hardware, related products and services, including laptops, desktops, motherboards, graphics cards, all-in-one PCs, servers, industrial computers, PC peripherals, car infotainment products, among other products.
"MSi" redirects here. For other uses, see MSI (disambiguation).
The company has a primary listing on the Taiwan Stock Exchange[2] and was established on August 4, 1986[3] by five founders – Hsu Xiang (a.k.a. Joseph Hsu), Huang Jinqing (a.k.a. Jeans Huang),[4][5] Lin Wentong (a.k.a. Frank Lin),[6] Yu Xian'nengyu (a.k.a. Kenny Yu), and Lu Qilong (a.k.a. Henry Lu). First starting its business in New Taipei City, Taiwan, MSI later expanded into China, setting up its Bao'an plant in Shenzhen in 2000 and establishing research and development facilities in Kunshan in 2001. It also provides global warranty service in North America, Central/South America, Asia, Australia and Europe.
Operations[edit]
MSI's offices in Zhonghe District, New Taipei City, Taiwan, serve as the company's headquarters, and house a number of different divisions and services.[7]
Manufacturing initially took place at plants in Taiwan, but has been moved elsewhere. Many MSI graphics cards are manufactured at its plant in mainland China.
The company has branch offices in the Americas, Europe, Asia, Australia and South Africa. As of 2015, the company has a global presence in over 120 countries.
History[edit]
MSI's five founders Joseph Hsu, Jeans Huang, Frank Lin, Kenny Yu and Henry Lu all worked for Sony before establishing MSI. Sony's corporate downsizing in 1985 brought them together. With the engineering background working for Sony, they established Micro Star International together in August 1986.
In 1997, MSI inaugurated Plant I in Zhonghe, followed by the opening of Plant III in Zhonghe in 2000. In the same year, MSI Computer (Shenzhen) Co., Ltd. was established, and in 2001, MSI Electronics (Kunshan) Co., Ltd. was founded. In 2002, MSI set up its European logistics center in the Netherlands. The company went public in 1998 with an IPO on the Taipei Stock Exchange (TAIEX).
In 2003, MSi released the "Mega PC", a shelf stereo computer hybrid with a front panel resembling the former and desktop computer connectors on the rear.[31]
In 2017, MSI signed a laptop distribution deal with Mustek.[32] In April of the same year, MSI names certified partners for the creation of an RGB ecosystem with MSI Mystic Light Sync which includes Corsair, SteelSeries, G.Skill, Cooler Master, InWin, Phanteks, and others.[33]
Also April 2017, MSI launched "Join the Dragon" team sponsorship program to discover talented eSports teams.[34] They have partnered with ESL for ESL One events in 2018[35] and became the official partner of ESL One Cologne 2018, one of the biggest events on the Counter-Strike: Global Offensive calendar.[36] MSI sponsored the Method eSports organization in August 2018.[37] MSI partnered with ESL to bring MGA 2018 grand finals to New York. Kazakhstan's AVANGAR won the Championship.[38][39]
MSI and Ubisoft jointly presented Ambient Link (synchronized game lighting) on Assassin's Creed Odyssey and Tom Clancy's The Division 2 in 2019.[40][41][42]
In September 2020, MSI unveiled a new line of business-oriented laptops under the "Modern", "Prestige", and "Summit" lines, and a new logo specific to these models.[43]
Over the years, MSI has earned awards and recognitions, including being ranked among the Top 20 Taiwan Global Brands in 2008[44] and named one of the Top 100 Taiwan Brands in 2011.[45] In 2015, Laptop magazine ranked MSI the fourth-best laptop brand of the year,[46][47] and according to Topology Research Institute, MSI was the largest gaming laptop supplier worldwide in 2016.[48][49] MSI had also been awarded the Taiwan Excellence award for 15 consecutive years in 2013.[50] In August 2018, MSI was rated the Best Gaming Laptop Brand of 2018 by Laptop Mag. New designs of its GS65 Stealth Thin and GE63 Raider RGB laptops earned the company an 84 out of 100 and put it on the top spot.[51]
On 7 October 2020, MSI released a public statement about their subsidiary Starlit scalping MSI-made Nvidia RTX 3080 and 3090 GPUs, and selling them for higher than MSRP on eBay.[52]
During the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine, MSI refused to withdraw from the Russian market. Research by Jeffrey Sonnenfeld of Yale University put MSI in the Yale CELI List of Companies category of "Digging In - Defying Demands for Exit or Reduction of Activities", the only Taiwanese company in the database.[53] MSI issued a statement on March 28, 2022, claiming that it abides by all international regulations in terms of its sales and operations in Russia.[54]
Sponsorship[edit]
The company once partnered with eSports teams Fnatic[55][56] and Cloud 9.[57]
It has also been a sponsor for a number of eSports teams worldwide, including METHOD,[58] PENTA Sports,[59] Energy eSports,[60] HWA Gaming,[61] yoe Flash Wolves,[62] NXA-Ladies,[63] Vox Eminor,[64] DeToNator,[65] Team Infused,[66] Aperture Gaming,[67] Phoenix GaminG,[68] Karmine Corp, Aiolikos FC, etc.
MSI announced a partnership with Monster Energy Yamaha MotoGP in February 2022 to support the team with PC hardware throughout the MotoGP season.[69]
