Asustek targets US buyers with WiMAX-added PCs

Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦), Taiwan's second-largest maker of branded laptops, said it plans to add the high-speed wireless Internet technology WiMAX to all its future notebook models to attract buyers in the US.

"We'll try to make the whole notebook product line from top to bottom, including the Eee PC, WiMAX capable," Asustek chairman Jonney Shih (施崇棠) said in an interview on Wednesday at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

Asustek 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 (曾省吾), who rates the company "buy" as an analyst for Merrill Lynch & Co in Taipei. "WiMAX might help to differentiate themselves from their competitors."

WiMAX 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 increase its marketing budget in the US this year and has a "very aggressive target" for boosting market share, he said, without elaborating.

Asustek 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 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."