computer science

Quanta Computer

Quanta Computer is a computer science topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Quanta Computer rather than just read about it. In short: Quanta Computer Incorporated (Chinese: 廣達電腦; pinyin: Guǎngdá Diànnǎo) is a Taiwanese contract manufacturer of electronic hardware. Quanta's business extends to enterprise network systems, home entertainment, mobile communication, automotive electronics, and digital home markets.

Key takeaways

Quanta Computer belongs to computer science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Quanta Computer to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Quanta Computer from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Quanta Computer Incorporated (Chinese: 廣達電腦; pinyin: Guǎngdá Diànnǎo) is a Taiwanese contract manufacturer of electronic hardware. Quanta's business extends to enterprise network systems, home entertainment, mobile communication, automotive electronics, and digital home markets. The company also designs, manufactures and markets GPS systems, including handheld GPS, in-car GPS, Bluetooth GPS and GPS with other positioning technologies.

Quanta Computer was announced as the original design manufacturer (ODM) for the XO-1 by the One Laptop per Child project on December 13, 2005, and took an order for one million laptops as of February 16, 2007. In October 2008, it was announced that Acer would phase out Quanta from the production chain, and instead outsource manufacturing of 15 million Aspire One netbooks to Compal Electronics. In 2011, Quanta designed servers in conjunction with Facebook as part of the Open Compute Project. It was estimated that notebook computers Quanta had manufactured held a 31% worldwide market share in the first quarter of 2008.

History The firm was founded in 1988 by Barry Lam, a Shanghai-born businessman who grew up in Hong Kong and received his education in Taiwan, with a starting capital of less than $900,000. A first notebook prototype was completed in November 1988, with factory production beginning in 1990. Throughout the 1990s, Quanta established contracts with Apple and Gateway, opening an after-sales office in California in 1991 and another in Augsburg, Germany in 1994. In 1996, Quanta signed a contract with Dell, making the firm Quanta's largest customer at the time. In 2014, Quanta ranked 409th on Fortune's Global 500 list. 2016 is the strongest period with it being in 326. In 2020, Quanta dropped to rank 377.

Manufactured products

Apple PowerBook 1400 iMac iPod video Apple Watch MacBook Air MacBook Pro

Other Steam Deck ThinkPad Z60m

Subsidiaries Subsidiaries of Quanta Computer include:

Quanta Cloud Technology Inc - provider of data center hardware. FaceVsion Technology Inc - telecommunications, webcam, and electronic products. CloudCast Technology Inc - information software and data processing - liquidated in February 2017. TWDT Precision Co., Ltd. (TWDT) - 55% ownership, which was sold in June 2016. RoyalTek International - In January 2006, RoyalTek became a member of Quanta Inc. This allows Quanta to create a top-down integration of technology and manufacturing, and we now have manufacturing factories in Taiwan and Shanghai.

Techman Robot Inc.

Techman Robot Inc. is a cobot manufacturer founded by Quanta in 2016. It is based in Taoyuan's Hwa Ya Technology Park. It is the world's second-largest manufacturer of robots after Universal Robots.

Facilities

Shanghai, China (QSMC) This was the first mainland China plant built by Quanta Computer in December 2000 to focus on OEM and ODM production and currently employs nearly 30,000 people. Huangjian Tang, Quanta's Chairman for China, manages seven major plants, F1 to F7, two large warehouses, H1 and H2, and the Q-BUS Research and Development facility.

Chongqing, China (QCMC) Constructed in April 2010. Quanta Computer invested and built a plant in Chongqing, China, the third plant built by Quanta Computer in China.

Court case

In 2008, LG Electronics sued Quanta Computer company for patent infringement, when Quanta used Intel components with non-Intel components. The Supreme Court of the United States ruled that LG, who had a patent sharing deal with Intel did not have the right to sue, because Quanta, being a consumer, did not need to abide by patent agreements with Intel and LG.

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Quanta Computer

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Quanta Computer claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In computer science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Quanta Computer before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Quanta Computer ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Quanta Computer

In research: Quanta Computer appears in computer science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Quanta Computer in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Quanta Computer is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Companies based in Taoyuan City, Computer companies established in 1988, Computer hardware companies, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Quanta Computer outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Quanta Computer in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Quanta Computer means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Quanta Computer out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Quanta Computer in simple terms?

Why does Quanta Computer matter?

Because it connects several computer science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Quanta Computer?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Quanta Computer.