Elitegroup Computer Systems Co., Ltd. (ECS; zh, t=精英電腦股份有限公司, c=, s=) is a

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

-based

electronics The field of electronics is a branch of physics and electrical engineering that deals with the emission, behaviour and effects of electrons using electronic devices. Electronics uses active devices to control electron flow by amplification ...

firm. It is the fifth largest

PC motherboard A motherboard (also called mainboard, main circuit board, mb, mboard, backplane board, base board, system board, logic board (only in Apple computers) or mobo) is the main printed circuit board (PCB) in general-purpose computers and other expand ...

manufacturer in the world (after Asus,

Gigabyte Technology Gigabyte Technology (branded as GIGABYTE or sometimes GIGA-BYTE; formally GIGA-BYTE Technology Co., Ltd.) is a Taiwanese manufacturer and distributor of computer hardware. Gigabyte's principal business is motherboards. It shipped 4.8 million moth ...

ASRock ASRock Inc. is a Taiwanese manufacturer of motherboards, industrial PCs and home theater PCs (HTPC). Founded by Ted Hsu, it was founded in 2002 and is currently owned by Taiwanese electronics company Pegatron. History ASRock was originally spu ...

, and MSI), with production reaching 24 million units in 2002. The company has since concentrated on broadening its product range. After ECS's purchase of laptop manufacturer Uniwill in 2006, the company has been involved in the design and manufacture of

laptops A laptop, laptop computer, or notebook computer is a small, portable personal computer (PC) with a screen and alphanumeric keyboard. Laptops typically have a clam shell form factor with the screen mounted on the inside of the upper li ...

desktop replacement computer A desktop replacement computer (DTR) is a personal computer that provides the full capabilities of a desktop computer while remaining mobile. They are often larger, bulkier laptops or in some cases 2-in-1 PCs with a tablet-like form factor and i ...

s and multimedia products. ECS computers used to be sold by

Fry's Electronics Fry's Electronics was an American big-box store chain. While operating, it was headquartered in San Jose, California in Silicon Valley. Fry's retailed software, consumer electronics, household appliances, cosmetics, tools, toys, accessories, ma ...

under the "Great Quality" ("GQ") brand.

Design & Production

While Elitegroup Computer Systems is headquartered in Taiwan, the company has production facilities in Asia and North America: *

Special Economic Zone A special economic zone (SEZ) is an area in which the business and trade laws are different from the rest of the country. SEZs are located within a country's national borders, and their aims include increasing trade balance, employment, increas ...

Shenzhen Shenzhen (; ; ; ), also historically known as Sham Chun, is a major sub-provincial city and one of the special economic zones of China. The city is located on the east bank of the Pearl River estuary on the central coast of southern province ...

: (ECS Manufacturing) & Golden Elite Technology & China Golden Elite Technology * Suzhou: (China ESZ) * Juarez, Mexico: China EMX, Mexico EMX Plant

OEM

Many of these motherboards have been produced for

OEM An original equipment manufacturer (OEM) is generally perceived as a company that produces non-aftermarket parts and equipment that may be marketed by another manufacturer. It is a common industry term recognized and used by many professional or ...

customers and are used in systems assembled and sold by such brand-name companies as

Lenovo Lenovo Group Limited, often shortened to Lenovo ( , ), is a Chinese Multinational corporation, multinational technology company specializing in designing, manufacturing, and marketing consumer electronics, Personal computer, personal computers, ...

, HP and

Zoostorm CMS Computers is a manufacturer of desktop, laptop and tablet computers based in Warrington, UK. It primarily trades under the brand Zoostorm. The company was founded in 1993, and acquired by VIP Group in 2011. In a 2009 press release, CMS ...

. Its main competitors are

Micro-Star International Micro-Star International Co., Ltd (MSI; ) 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 l ...

and

. ECS has also produced computers for Acer.

History

Founded in 1987, ECS is headquartered in

with operations in

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere and almost entirely within the Western Hemisphere. It is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South America and the Car ...

Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...

and the

Pacific Rim The Pacific Rim comprises the lands around the rim of the Pacific Ocean. The ''Pacific Basin'' includes the Pacific Rim and the islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Rim roughly overlaps with the geologic Pacific Ring of Fire. List of co ...

. The company merged with PCChips (Hsing Tech Enterprise Co., Ltd), a major manufacturer of low-cost motherboards, in 2005.PCChips USA, Elitegroup Computer Systems Merger, Creating a New Era in the PC Industry
Fremont CA - 1 June 2005 (archived) In June 2003, ECS was selected for two years in a row for ''

Business Week ''Bloomberg Businessweek'', previously known as ''BusinessWeek'', is an American weekly business magazine published fifty times a year. Since 2009, the magazine is owned by New York City-based Bloomberg L.P. The magazine debuted in New York City ...

'' magazine’s exclusive Information Technology 100 list.

References

External links

*
ECS Factory Tour in Shenzhen, China
{{Electronics industry in Taiwan 1987 establishments in Taiwan Electronics companies of Taiwan Graphics hardware companies Motherboard companies Computer companies established in 1987 Manufacturing companies based in Taipei Taiwanese brands