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I Visited the Minisforum HQ in Shenzhen, China – Here is Everything I Saw
Visiting Minisforum’s China Office – What Did I See and Are Minisforum Legit?
As part of an extended trip to Shenzhen to explore the operations of Chinese hardware manufacturers, I had the opportunity to tour the headquarters and production facilities of Minisforum.
Known primarily for their compact desktop PCs, Minisforum has grown into a recognizable name in the mini PC sector, especially among users seeking unique form factors and high-spec internals.
My visit was independently arranged—not funded or sponsored by Minisforum—and I was given broad access to their facilities, with the only restriction being a small section of their R&D operation involving future product development. This level of transparency allowed for a thorough, hands-on look at their operations, from production lines to internal workflows.
The visit came about through direct outreach. After arriving in China, I contacted several companies I regularly report on and review. Minisforum was among the few who responded affirmatively, agreeing to host a tour with very little advance notice. On the morning of the visit, I was picked up by three Minisforum team members, including their livestream and media lead, who also served as my translator for the day.
The visit took place across several floors of their Shenzhen headquarters, located in a commercial building they moved into in 2021, having launched the brand in 2018. They estimated they had around 300 staff globally, and based on what I saw, 150 to 170 people were active onsite, spread across administration, production, and support.
The headquarters occupied a full floor of the building, and it was apparent that expansion had been part of their strategy when they relocated in 2021. Though some office spaces were unoccupied, most of the floors were operational, with logistics and packaging activities ongoing. I observed pallets and packaging materials prepared for distribution, and a fair amount of sitting stock awaiting shipping. The layout was structured but busy, and of all the factory and office environments I toured during my trip, this one was arguably the cleanest and most organized. That said, I fully acknowledge that all facilities likely prepared for my visit to some extent.
The core office space was divided into five main sections: regional (domestic) sales, international sales (including platforms like Amazon), marketing and communications, product development, and web/app support. One notable area was their in-house video production studio used for livestreams and YouTube content.
It was professionally equipped and a far cry from many DIY setups I’ve seen elsewhere. The R&D section, while smaller in headcount, was well-defined, with product managers assigned to own specific hardware designs. Their approach appeared to give individual developers significant autonomy, from concept to execution.
Minisforum’s production line blended automation with human-led processes. Compared to other factories I toured in Shenzhen, theirs leaned more heavily toward manual labor, with an approximate 70/30 split in favor of human involvement. Tasks such as component placement, assembly, and basic testing were handled by line workers, while machines were used for stress tests and basic automation.
Staff wore ESD-safe gear like anti-static wrist straps, and their stations showed signs of regular use, such as floor wear and desktop clutter. There was no visible use of airlock or dust-control chambers, unlike in some other facilities, which may reflect a different internal standard or assessment of risk.
Minisforum included several test-specific environments within their production pipeline, which were not present in other factories I visited.
These included an aging room, where products were stress-tested under load over extended periods; a mute room, used to measure noise output under different system conditions.
Aand a shock testing room, used to simulate shipping and logistical handling stress.
These rooms provided an additional layer of quality control and indicated a focus on post-assembly validation. It is unclear how many units are tested this way—it may be based on statistical sampling—but the presence of these facilities in-house suggests a desire to validate performance prior to distribution.
The R&D tour provided insight into how Minisforum develops their hardware. While I could not film certain prototype designs, I was shown internal presentations, CAD models, and development slides covering current and future projects. Minisforum stated that all design IP is developed in-house and not resold or licensed out.
This was consistent with what I saw: unique PCB layouts, chassis concepts, and airflow strategies not commonly replicated by other brands. According to staff, each product is led by a dedicated product manager responsible for feature planning, design iterations, and incorporating customer feedback from forums and surveys. While I will cover this in more depth in a dedicated piece, one highlight was a preview of their upcoming NAS product line. Minisforum’s modular approach includes optional upgrades like M.2 to NVMe expansion cards and vertical mounting kits designed for optimal cooling. The design team emphasized airflow challenges when scaling NVMe bays and showed plans for vertical chassis configurations to help with thermal dissipation. Their willingness to walk through product iterations, including some early failures, was appreciated. I was also shown how they collect and incorporate customer usage data into next-generation revisions—a refreshing level of engagement with the post-sales cycle.
Throughout the tour, there were signs of an internal culture focused on autonomy and personalization. Employee desks in the sales and marketing areas included personal decorations, small toys, and hobby-related items—a contrast to the uniform, sterile environments in some tech companies. Staff I interacted with expressed general satisfaction, though naturally, any factory visit is likely to showcase a best-case scenario. That said, the absence of NDAs or filming restrictions during the majority of the tour does suggest a level of confidence in how operations are run. Meetings were conducted openly, and even during informal interviews with staff, the tone remained consistent: proud but not overly rehearsed.
Minisforum presented a distinctly integrated model of hardware development. Based on what I observed, they appear to retain full ownership of their hardware IP, from motherboard schematics to chassis design. Their hardware does not seem to be rebranded or redistributed through external labels, which distinguishes them from companies that act more as OEM aggregators or rely on ODMs. While their mini PCs are priced slightly higher than some competitors, that premium may reflect the additional effort in R&D, custom design, and modular flexibility.
Furthermore, Minisforum seems to focus on a smaller product catalog with longer development cycles, suggesting a strategy that prioritizes refinement over market saturation. In contrast to other manufacturers that may sell their designs through multiple storefronts or aliases (such as Beelink or Geekom), Minisforum appears to retain control over both design and distribution, offering a more vertically integrated approach. While no factory visit can fully capture day-to-day operations, this visit offered a grounded, independent view into how one of the more visible Chinese mini PC brands functions behind the scenes.
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