Experts differ on manufacturing

"Brand positioning, brand promotion and relations with market and distribution partners are the core of a brand-name business, which requires long-term, constant and stable management," he said.

But Asustek's Shih believes in the hard work of manufacturing. "The groundwork of strong technology is competitiveness," Shih told shareholders last month.

Giving up on manufacturing could cost a company its edge in the transition into the digital home era, standards for which are still undecided, he said.

Victor Tsan (詹文男), managing director of III's Market Intelligence Center, said that research and development (R&D) capability is still crucial to own-brand developers, but that it can be split apart from manufacturing.

"Companies boosting brand-name business need to understand consumer desires well, and then control product specifications to differentiate themselves from competitors," Chan said.

Asustek, also the world's largest motherboard maker, is expected to ship 40 million units of motherboards -- with its own-brand products comprising around 60 percent -- as well as 3 million laptops this year, half of which bear its own name.

These totals are up from 30 million units and 1.7 million units last year, respectively.