[Paek Jongmin's Deep Tech] Taiwan Builds Wealth with Servers Samsung Abandoned

Quanta Founder Rises as Taiwan's Richest Person After Years of Notebook Manufacturing
Now Ranks Ahead of Samsung Chairman Lee Jayyong Among Billionaires
Taiwan Boasts a Fully Integrated Vertical Supply Chain for Server Production
Korea Stil

Who is the richest person in Taiwan? While many might assume it is Morris Chang, the founder of TSMC, the leading semiconductor foundry driving Taiwan's economy, that is not the correct answer.

The title actually belongs to Barry Lam, chairman of Quanta. After being named the richest person in Taiwan by Forbes and Bloomberg in 2023, Lam's fortune has grown even further. Currently, Lam ranks ahead of Samsung Chairman Lee Jae-yong on various billionaire lists.

Lam's rapid rise can be attributed to his successful ride on the AI boom. Since founding Quanta in 1988, Lam focused primarily on manufacturing notebook PCs. The company has produced laptops for major brands such as Apple, Dell, HP, Lenovo, and Toshiba. As of 2023, about one-quarter of all laptops produced worldwide are manufactured by Quanta.

Conversely, this means that Quanta does not have its own consumer brand. This is why the name Quanta is unfamiliar to Korean consumers. Lam's bold bets were what propelled Quanta's growth.

To overcome sluggish PC sales during the smartphone era, Lam also focused on cloud computing. While it would have been reasonable to invest in smartphones, Lam chose to invest in servers instead. That decision proved to be correct. At the recent Computex 2025 event, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang visited Quanta's booth and even signed a server, demonstrating their close relationship.

Quanta has already emerged as one of the world's leading AI server suppliers, with major customers such as Meta and Google. Last year, Quanta's consolidated revenue reached NT$1.41 trillion (US$43.35 billion), a 30% increase from the previous year. In November last year, the company also forecast that its server sales would more than double this year.

At Quanta's 37th anniversary celebration last month, Lam described the company as a "master chef" responsible for preparing banquets anywhere in the world. This can be interpreted as a confident statement about Quanta's ability to produce AI servers and laptops at its nine factories worldwide. He explained that Quanta's servers are manufactured in the United States and Germany, that laptops sold outside the U.S. are produced in China, and that laptops sold in the U.S. are manufactured in Thailand and Vietnam. This showcased Quanta's ability to respond effectively even during the trade turmoil triggered by U.S. President Donald Trump.

Some observers point out that Lam and Quanta's repeated transformations and accumulation of wealth are not solely the result of his individual efforts. A diplomat who has interacted with Taiwan's economic and industrial sectors warned that one should not underestimate the competitiveness of Taiwan's manufacturing industry in the AI era. This is not simply because of TSMC.

He explained that the reason Nvidia is trying to make Taiwan the center of AI is that a tightly organized vertical division of labor for AI server production has been established there.

A representative example is Nvidia's large-scale AI server, the 'NVL72.' Manufacturing this state-of-the-art server requires the cooperation of numerous manufacturers. It takes more than just Nvidia's GPUs; steel cases, metal rails and bearings for blade servers, and a vast amount of wiring are all needed. Lam has skillfully leveraged this industrial base.

In contrast to Quanta, Samsung abandoned its server business. Korean companies that once made PC graphics cards using Nvidia GPUs have disappeared. Now, not only GPUs but also servers must be imported. Even if the supply of GPUs is secured, there are still many gaps in building a complete AI ecosystem.