2021-11-24
Lee Shan Wei /photo by courtesy of Supermicro /tr. by Scott Williams
For a company to completely reinvent itself takes courage and determination. Super Micro Computer’s slogan “We Keep IT Green” encapsulates an approach to doing the right thing that has earned the company international recognition and helped it grow its business.
Charles Liang was born in Chiayi, Taiwan, and has been hailed by Forbes magazine as one of the 25 most successful Americans of ethnic Chinese descent. He founded Super Micro Computer, Inc. (Supermicro) in 1993 and took the company public on the US stock market in 2007. In what would turn out to be a prescient move, Supermicro began developing energy-saving servers in 2004, laying the foundations of its “green computing” empire. Liang exemplifies the innovative drive and feisty entrepreneurial spirit that is typical of Taiwanese businesspeople abroad.
Recognizing the huge potential of the Asian market, Supermicro established a Taiwanese factory in 2012 and enlarged it in 2019. This highly efficient green production capacity came online in 2021, wowing the world and reaffirming Taiwan’s strength as an exporter within the Asia-Pacific region.
The hard work behind “luck”
“I’ve always thought of myself as lucky,” says Charles Liang, who serves as Supermicro’s president and CEO. His broad and genuine smile belies a history of long hours and difficult challenges. “Nobody thought much of our chances when we started the company in 1993, but I stuck to my guns.” Liang left a teaching job at his alma mater in the 1980s to pursue his ambitions in Silicon Valley. “Back then, competition in the industry was all price-based, but I believed that quality was the way forward.” He founded Supermicro with his wife (Sara Liu) and his good friend Wally Liaw. “Fortunately, we were able to turn a profit in just six months.”
“I’ve always had great confidence in the company’s technology.” And Supermicro has always striven to further refine its products to ensure they are the best they can possibly be. “It’s easier to promote your products when you can satisfy the pickiest of customers.” Supermicro serves Silicon Valley’s technology leaders, and Liang believes that these customers’ most demanding and unreasonable requests push his team to up its game. “We really surprised major American manufacturers in 1995 by introducing the world’s first dual-CPU motherboard for servers, and then following it up with the first four-CPU server board.” A plainspoken man from southern Taiwan, Liang has a never-surrender attitude that has earned the respect of his peers.
Supermicro built its business and reputation on a range of low-volume bespoke services. By 2012, its highly regarded customized high-end servers had made it the third largest company in the world in terms of server and network storage device market share.
“We try to be fast on our feet.” Liang explains that Supermicro has succeeded over its rivals in part because its efficient execution gives its products first-mover advantage. The company enhances its efficiency and speeds product delivery by using a building-block architecture. This approach not only helps Supermicro quickly meet customers’ needs, but also greatly reduces those customers’ hardware costs by enabling them to swap out modular components like Lego bricks. “Components have different useful lives. Modularity lets you replace parts that have failed without replacing the whole.” It also reduces electronic waste, which is good for the environment. Quick to recognize the wave of environmental awareness sweeping the globe, Supermicro positioned itself in the environmental vanguard by committing to sustainability. With other major international server manufacturers now also moving towards sustainability, the trend will be unstoppable.
From perseverance to laurels
Supermicro’s sustainability slogan, “We Keep IT Green,” points to the company’s focus on values rather than price. As Liang sees it, fulfilling corporate social responsibilities means giving back to humanity and Mother Earth.
“Our development of green computing was really a fluke.” Back in 2004, the chronically busy Liang happened upon a trailer for the movie The Day After Tomorrow and decided to take his children to see it in hopes of winning a “Daddy, you’re the best!” from them. But when he asked them what they thought about the film, his own question sparked a train of thought that led to a business idea he felt compelled to pursue. “My back-of-the-envelope calculation showed that slightly improving the efficiency of the power supplies used in servers around the world could save the equivalent of the output of 30 fossil-fuel power plants.”
But he soon encountered a cold dose of reality when he realized that the power supplies then on the market couldn’t meet his energy-saving standards.
“Since we couldn’t buy them from someone else, we made them ourselves.” In addition to increasing the efficiency of power supplies from 70% to over 90%, Supermicro improved the overall IT infrastructure by developing energy-saving circuit designs and refined cooling systems. By reducing the heat computers generate and introducing air cooling systems and building-block solutions, Supermicro has greatly reduced the thermal impact and air-conditioning requirements of computing, making it less of a global-warming villain.
In recent years, Supermicro’s focus on green computing has resulted in the development of a line of energy-saving components, as well as data-center and cloud-computing solutions that could cut energy consumption by some 50%. The company further estimates that its modular subsystems can cut customers’ hardware refresh cycle costs by 60%.
No place like home
“Living abroad, I dream of home all the time.” In 2012, Liang brought Supermicro “back” to Taiwan, investing NT$10 billion in the construction of a science and technology park in Taoyuan’s Bade District that could generate as much as NT$60 billion in production value per annum. Supermicro further expanded its Taiwan facility in 2019 with help from Shen Jong-chin, then the minister of economic affairs.
Supermicro values Taiwan’s position within the Asian market, including the island’s integration of up- and downstream production, and its proximity to the company’s customers. Over the last three years, Supermicro’s sales to the Asian market have accounted for 20% of its net sales of servers, a level exceeding its sales to the European market and second only to its sales in the US.
Following completion of phase two of the Taiwan facility, the company went on to use it as an operations and R&D center that greatly enhanced its competitiveness and facilitated its development of both OEM and own-brand products. “We are focusing our future development on comprehensive IT solutions and cost-saving business automation solutions.”
Supermicro’s business has grown steadily over the years. Between 2007, when the company listed on the US stock market, and 2020, its annual revenues grew more than sevenfold to US$3.34 billion. The company’s market value grew eightfold over the same period, making it the fastest-growing IT infrastructure company in the world.
“Taiwan’s human resources are truly outstanding.” Its wonderful natural and cultural setting, highly integrated production chain, and government support for technological development ensure that “the sky’s the limit for its development of green industries.” Liang happily notes that the more widespread green products become, the better for the Earth.
Formed 28 years ago, Supermicro is determined to scale still greater heights. “I’m lucky. I have a team that shares my philosophy and supports me in continuing to do what I do.” Having held fast to his environmental vision and grown his business, Liang has the world at his feet.
Article and photos courtesy of Taiwan Panorama November 2021
