Asustek Computer Inc (
"We'll try to make the whole notebook product line from top to bottom, including the Eee PC, WiMAX capable," Asustek chairman Jonney Shih (
Asustek has embraced WiMAX as Sprint Nextel Corp, the third-largest US mobile operator, prepares to become the first national carrier to offer the technology in the US later this year. Taipei-based Asustek said this week it will work with Sprint to offer the service to laptops buyers.
"They do need to take some new initiatives to gain share in the US and worldwide," said Tony Tseng (
WiMAX allows laptops and mobile phones to wirelessly connect to the Internet throughout entire cities, compared with the smaller areas that current wireless-fidelity networks cover. KDDI Corp, Japan's second-largest mobile-phone operator, and Far Eastone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信), Taiwan's third-largest wireless carrier, also plan to start offering WiMAX services this year.
"We are the late comer in terms of the notebook," Shih said. "The US is the last stronghold, we know it's a very tough market."
Asustek will increase its marketing budget in the US this year and has a "very aggressive target" for boosting market share, he said, without elaborating.
Asustek shares fell 2.4 percent to NT$83.90 (US$2.58) at the close in Taipei, compared with a 0.35 percent decline in the benchmark TAIEX. The stock gained 15 percent last year, while shares of Acer Inc, its larger Taiwanese rival in producing branded laptops, fell 5.2 percent.
The company held the No. 8 spot in global laptop market share last year, including the number five position in Asia and the same ranking in the Europe, the Middle East and Africa region, Shih said, without giving specific numbers.
Asustek will ship 5 million of its low-cost Eee PC notebooks this year after selling 350,000 in the two months since its October release, Shih said.
The Eee PC sells for as low as US$300.
"We're spending all effort to try to catch up with demand, but still we can't make enough" of the Eee PC, he said. Asustek plans to release new models of the laptop this year which will have more storage capacity and the WiMAX technology, he said.
The Taiwanese manufacturer may acquire computer or electronics brands to help boost market share in the US, the world's largest market, Shih said.
"We've been in contact with many possibilities," he said, without elaborating. "We are still watching very closely."
Taiwan Transport and Storage Corp (TTS, 台灣通運倉儲) yesterday unveiled its first electric tractor unit — manufactured by Volvo Trucks — in a ceremony in Taipei, and said the unit would soon be used to transport cement produced by Taiwan Cement Corp (TCC, 台灣水泥). Both TTS and TCC belong to TCC International Holdings Ltd (台泥國際集團). With the electric tractor unit, the Taipei-based cement firm would become the first in Taiwan to use electric vehicles to transport construction materials. TTS chairman Koo Kung-yi (辜公怡), Volvo Trucks vice president of sales and marketing Johan Selven, TCC president Roman Cheng (程耀輝) and Taikoo Motors Group
Among the rows of vibrators, rubber torsos and leather harnesses at a Chinese sex toys exhibition in Shanghai this weekend, the beginnings of an artificial intelligence (AI)-driven shift in the industry quietly pulsed. China manufactures about 70 percent of the world’s sex toys, most of it the “hardware” on display at the fair — whether that be technicolor tentacled dildos or hyper-realistic personalized silicone dolls. Yet smart toys have been rising in popularity for some time. Many major European and US brands already offer tech-enhanced products that can enable long-distance love, monitor well-being and even bring people one step closer to
RECORD-BREAKING: TSMC’s net profit last quarter beat market expectations by expanding 8.9% and it was the best first-quarter profit in the chipmaker’s history Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), which counts Nvidia Corp as a key customer, yesterday said that artificial intelligence (AI) server chip revenue is set to more than double this year from last year amid rising demand. The chipmaker expects the growth momentum to continue in the next five years with an annual compound growth rate of 50 percent, TSMC chief executive officer C.C. Wei (魏哲家) told investors yesterday. By 2028, AI chips’ contribution to revenue would climb to about 20 percent from a percentage in the low teens, Wei said. “Almost all the AI innovators are working with TSMC to address the
Malaysia’s leader yesterday announced plans to build a massive semiconductor design park, aiming to boost the Southeast Asian nation’s role in the global chip industry. A prominent player in the semiconductor industry for decades, Malaysia accounts for an estimated 13 percent of global back-end manufacturing, according to German tech giant Bosch. Now it wants to go beyond production and emerge as a chip design powerhouse too, Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim said. “I am pleased to announce the largest IC (integrated circuit) Design Park in Southeast Asia, that will house world-class anchor tenants and collaborate with global companies such as Arm [Holdings PLC],”