Supermicro moving away from Chinese suppliers

Remember last year's controversy about claims of a hidden Chinese spy component on Supermicro server motherboards? Supermicro denied claims about a possible supply chain infection and even contracted an independent investigation, but now the US-based server motherboard maker is looking to eliminate its reliance on Chinese suppliers.

Nikkei Asian Review writes big customers of Supermicro hardware, in particular the US government, have urged the firm to move production out of China over concerns about cyber espionage risks.

"There is a major shift out of China happening from the server supply chain," said Betty Shyu, a server analyst at Taipei-based Digitimes. Chinese-made server motherboards had also been hit by the additional tariffs imposed by Washington, she said.

In addition to asking suppliers to shift production, Super Micro is expanding its own in-house manufacturing facilities to mitigate any perceived risk. The company mostly assembles server systems in-house but outsources motherboard production to many suppliers. "We have to be more self-reliant [to build in-house manufacturing] without depending only on those outsourcing partners whose production previously has mostly been in China," the executive said.