Fabrinet began operations in January, 2000 by acquiring a 232,000 ft2 (21,550 meter2) facility from Seagate Technology in Bangkok, Thailand. At that time, the company planned to leverage the precision mechanical and processing engineering skill sets from the disk drive industry into the manufacture of optical communications components and modules.  With this goal, founder and CEO Tom Mitchell engaged some of the most seasoned managers in the industry, creating arguably the industry’s most experienced and knowledgeable teams in the region.

The transformation of the company was complete in four short years.  By 2003, optics represented the majority of the company's revenue.  Three quarters later, optical manufacturing services accounted for 100% of the company's revenue.

Today, Fabrinet is one of the top 100 contract manufacturers in the world with manufacturing facilities in Thailand, China and the United States.  Audited and approved as a premier manufacturing service provider for every major telecom and datacom vendor, Fabrinet is the number one choice for manufacturers of optical and electro-optical products worldwide.