Accton Technology Corporation

Accton Technology Corporation is a Taiwanese company in the electronics industry that primarily engages in the development and manufacture of networking and communication solutions, as an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) or original design manufacturer (ODM) partner.

Accton has manufacturing plants in Taiwan (Hsinchu), China (Shenzhen), and Vietnam (Vĩnh Phúc), supported by research and development centers in Taiwan, Shanghai, and California, with a total workforce of over 5,400 employees globally.

Accton's product lineup includes 100G, 400G, and 800G switches designed for data center applications, along with wireless devices and artificial intelligence acceleration hardware. The company is a known networking partner for major technology firms, including Amazon, HPE, and various global telecommunications operators.

History
Accton was founded on February 9, 1988. Accton filled its IPO in November 1995.

Acquisitions
1997 – SMC Networks 1999 – Emitcom 2000 – Minority stake in U.S. Robotics modem division from 3Com (with NatSteel from Singapore) 2010 – Mototech 2021 – Stake in Xsight Labs

Joint ventures
2002 – Accton and SVA Group China – formed SVA Accton 2003 – Accton and Philips – formed Arcadyan Technology 2011 – Accton and Alvarion – formed AWB

Exits
2004 – ADMTek Inc to Infineon for €80 million 2006 – 69% of Arcadyan Technology to Compal for US$30 million

800G Switches
Accton's 51.2 Tbps platforms leverage Broadcom’s Tomahawk 5 silicon and Intel's Ice Lake CPUs, targeting modern data centers and AI/ML workloads.

AS9817-64D (QSFP-DD) and AS9817-64O (OSFP800): Both are 2RU switches featuring 64 x 800 GbE ports, with flexible configurations for super-spine role within spine/leaf network topologies.

DCS8500-128D: A 4RU switch with 128 x 400G QSFP112 ports, this high-density platform is designed to improve bandwidth management and simplify spine/leaf topologies.

AS9936-128D: A 6RU Network Cloud Fabric switch featuring 128 x OSFP800 fabric interfaces. It is a key component for a VoQ-based fabric Distributed Disaggregated Chassis Network Cloud Cluster, designed for AI back-end networking.

The AS9936-128D is specifically designed to support expansive AI/ML clusters, capable of scaling up to 32K-GPU 800G/400G cluster with a two-stage DDC network architecture. This is achieved in combination with the ASA929-18XKE, a 14.4 Tbps full-duplex 2RU Network Cloud Packet Forwarder that features 18 x OSFP800 network interfaces and 20 x OSFP800 fabric interfaces.

Others

 * CheetaHub Classic 2040, 1 10BASE2 / BNC, 8-port 10BASE-T, 1990s
 * CheetaHub Classic 2041, 1 10BASE2 / BNC, 1-port AUI, 16-port 10BASE-T, 1990s
 * CheetaHub Power EH3024B, 24-port 100BASE-TX, Network_switch, 1990s
 * CheetaHub Power 3000P, 8-port 100BASE-TX, Network_switch, 1990s
 * CheetahSwitch Workgroup-2510, 100BASE-TX, Network_switch
 * CheetahSwitch Workgroup-3002A, 100BASE-TX, Network_switch
 * CheetahSwitch Workgroup-3008A, 100BASE-TX, Network_switch
 * CheetahSwitch Workgroup-3016A, 100BASE-TX, Network_switch
 * EN2003, AUI to 10BASE2 transceiver
 * EN2008, AUI to Ethernet transceiver
 * EN2009, AUI to BNC transceiver
 * EN2032, AUI to Ethernet transceiver
 * EN2209, AUI to BNC and Ethernet transceiver
 * EtherHub 5st 5-port 10BASE-T, 1990s
 * EtherHub 8Mini: 1 10BASE2 / BNC, 8-port 10BASE-T, 1990s
 * EtherHub 8e: 1 10BASE2 / BNC, 1-port Attachment Unit Interface, 8-port 10BASE-T, 1990s
 * EtherHub 8s: 1 10BASE2 / BNC, 8-port 10BASE-T, 1990s
 * EtherHub 8se: 1 10BASE2 / BNC, 8-port 100BASE-TX, 1990s, Network_switch
 * EtherHub 12R: 1 10BASE2 / BNC, 1-port Attachment Unit Interface, 12-port 10BASE-T, 1990s
 * EtherHub 12S: 1 10BASE2 / BNC, 1-port Attachment Unit Interface, 12-port 10BASE-T, 1990s
 * EtherHub 12se: 12-port 10BASE-T
 * EtherHub 16: 1 or 2 10BASE2 / 1 or 2 BNC, 16-port 10BASE-T, 1990s
 * EtherHub-16i: 16-port 10BASE-T, 1990s
 * EtherHub 16S: 1 10BASE2 / BNC, 16-port 10BASE-T, 1990s
 * EtherHub 24s: 1 10BASE2 / BNC, 24-port 10BASE-T, 1990s
 * EtherCoax-98X (EN1668C)
 * EtherCombo-98X (EN1668)
 * EtherRepeater II, 10BASE2 / AUI repeater
 * EtherPair-16 (EN1658-P)
 * EtherPair-98X (EN1668T)
 * EtherCoax-16 (EN1642)
 * EtherCoax-16 (EN1652)
 * EtherCoax-16 (EN1662)
 * EtherCombo-16 (EN1640)
 * EtherCombo-16 (EN1650)
 * EtherCombo-16 (EN1660)
 * EtherDuo-16 (EN1657-P)
 * EtherPair-16 (EN1661)
 * EtherPair16-16T
 * EtherPair-NE2 (EN1622)
 * Fast EtherHub 12se: 12 -port 100BASE-TX, 1990s, Network_switch
 * Fast Ethercard PCMCIA, 100BASE-TX, 1990s
 * Fast SwitcHub 8s: 12 -port 100BASE-TX, 1990s, Network_switch
 * EN1660-005 ISA 10BASE-T NIC, 1990s
 * EN1660-005 ISA 10BASE2 / BNC connector / AUI 100BASE-TX NIC, 1990s
 * EN1207B-TX PCI 100BASE-TX NIC, 1990s
 * EN1207D-TX PCI 100BASE-TX NIC, 1990s
 * MR3202A Wireless access point
 * MR3201A Wireless access point
 * SwitchHub 8-se, 10BASE2 / BNC, 8-port 100BASET, 1990s
 * Venus 5-port 10BASE2, 1990s
 * WCPE2118 WiMAX, 2000s

Services
In 2022, Accton partnered with TSMC, Delta Electronics, Gigabyte Technology, MIRLE, and 3M to develop immersion cooling solutions for data centers. This technology has the potential to reduce the energy consumption of cooling systems by up to 30%, addressing the thermal management challenges posed by high-performance computing.

That year, Accton began shipping 400G switches at scale. The transition from 100G to 400G switches was driven by the increasing demands of 5G, Wi-Fi 6, IoT, AI, and digital transformations in consumer electronics and enterprise sectors. This escalation in demand is particularly notable among major tech companies like Google, Microsoft, and Facebook.

Also in 2022, Accton developed Vodafone's disaggregated cell site gateway (DCSG) routers for their 5G network. These routers are critical to Vodafone's strategy to automate networks and diversify vendors, supporting the company's expansion of its 5G infrastructure as part of its open RAN initiatives.

Since 2021, Accton has been involved in developing and producing multiple generations of Intel's Habana Labs GOYA AI Inference Card, GAUDI AI Training Card, and GAUDI HLS-1 AI Training System. These products are designed to enhance AI computation speeds and efficiency in cloud environments.

Since 2020, Accton (through its Edgecore Networks subsidiary) has been shipping Terragraph-enabled hardware units to service providers and system integrators worldwide. Terragraph is a gigabit wireless technology developed by Meta (formerly Facebook), designed to deliver high-speed internet connectivity over the air, close to fiber-optic speeds, using the 60 GHz spectrum band.

In 2019, Accton designed and manufactured switches for 5G core networks of major telecom operators including AT&T and NTT Com. Still in 2019, Amazon, through its subsidiaries Amazon Web Services and Annapurna Labs, became a significant customer of Accton’s design and manufacturing services, particularly for 400G switches and SmartNIC cards.

In 2016, through the Open Compute Project (OCP), Accton had the opportunity to develop Meta’s Wedge 100 that equip their hyperscale 100G data centers. Accton has played a crucial role in designing and manufacturing the Minipack switches that are integral to Meta's F16 data center network topology. These modular switches, tailored for 100G and 400G applications, are deployed in various capacities, including as fabric, spine, and aggregator, to efficiently manage data traffic across Meta’s extensive network infrastructure.

Earlier initiatives include Accton's partnership in 2015 with Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE) in the OpenSwitch initiative, alongside Broadcom, Intel, and VMware. In 2014, Accton manufactured Linux-based switches for Cumulus and provided hardware solutions for Big Switch Networks. In 2002, the company was chosen as Microsoft’s OEM partner to supply their Microsoft Broadband Networking product line. Since 1999, as an EMS provider, Accton has manufactured networking products for major OEMs such as Cisco, Intel, 3Com, Juniper, and Fujitsu.

Finance
During the year 2009, Accton obtained approximately 69% and 14% of its total revenue from switches and WLAN products, respectively.

During the year 2017, Accton obtained approximately 68% and 12% out of its total revenue from network switches and network appliances. Network access came third with 9%, followed by 5% in Wireless networking and 1% of the revenue coming from Broadband networking gear.

Total sales for 2018 increased 18.23 percent annually to NT$43.09 billion (over US$1.3 billion) with Facebook, Amazon (company), and HP Inc weighing in.

Management
Accton's key management personnel consists of:
 * Kuo-Hsiu Huang (Chairperson)
 * Jun Shi (Chief Executive Officer and President)
 * Fanny Chen (Chief Financial Officer)
 * Michael K.T. Lee (Senior Vice President of R&D)
 * Melody Chiang (Senior Vice President of Business Management)
 * Jackal Lee (Senior Vice President of Product Supply & Demand)
 * Enco Liew (Vice President)
 * Ben Cheng (Vice President)
 * Joseph Hsieh (Vice President)

Board of directors
Accton's board consists of the following directors:
 * Kuo-Hsiu Huang (Chairperson at Accton, former Director at Accton)
 * Chiu-Hsia Wei (Vice Chairperson at Accton)
 * Heng-Yi Du (Director at Accton, Chairman at Wan Yuan Textiles, Chung Tai Transportation, and Ting Sing Co, Director of Ve Wong Corporation, SECOM, South China Insurance, and The Ambassador Hotel)
 * Shu-Chieh Huang (Independent Director at Accton, former CEO of Deloitte Taiwan)
 * Fa-Yauh Lee (Independent Director at Accton, Independent Director at Aethertek)
 * Eizo Kobayashi (Independent Director at Accton, Chairman at Itochu, Independent Director at Omron and Japan Airlines and Japan Exchange Group)
 * Ankur Singla (Independent Director at Accton, former CEO of Volterra, SVP at F5 Networks, SVP/GM Juniper Networks, CTO at HPE Aruba)

Recognition
2018 – Outstanding Work Environment in Gender Equality from the Hsinchu Science Park Bureau 2018 – National Quality Award from the Ministry of Economic Affairs (Presented by President Tsai Ing-Wen)

CSIRO patent issues
The Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) holds the patent to a component of the IEEE 802.11n standard. This component is also part of other protocols marketed under the Wi-Fi trademark. The IEEE requested from the CSIRO a Letter of Assurance that no lawsuits would be filed for anyone implementing the standard. In September 2007, CSIRO responded that they would not be able to comply with this request since litigation was involved.

In April 2009, it was revealed that CSIRO reached a settlement with 14 companies including Accton plus other major technology companies —Hewlett-Packard, Asus, Intel, Dell, Toshiba, Netgear, D-Link, Belkin, SMC Networks, 3Com, Buffalo Technology, Microsoft, and Nintendo — on the condition that CSIRO did not broadcast the resolution.