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Asustek upbeat on IT Month sales

“Rather than creating a YouTube kind of environment, which we already have through SoapBox, or an Apple iTunes store, MSN is working at obtaining popular music concert, TV and movie rights to air programs on our platform free of charge to viewers.”

— Paul Lin, channel manager at MSN Online Services Group

Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦) expects to make more than NT$450 million (US$13.52 million) in sales during the upcoming Information Technology Month (IT Month) trade show, a company executive said yesterday.

The company expects to sell about 6,000 units of Eee PCs during the exhibition, on top of more than 10,000 units of conventional laptops, said Kevin Lin (林福能), vice president in charge of Asustek’s sales department.

IT Month will start tomorrow at Taipei World Trade Center’s Exhibition Halls 1 and 3, where IT vendors are expected to roll out various promotions and gifts to attract holiday shoppers.

In line with its efforts to build a global brand and create a loyal following, Asustek will not be implementing further price reductions for its EeePCs, or low-cost netbooks, as discounts were offered earlier, the company’s notebook product manager Jose Liao (廖逸翔) said.

Limited edition pink S101 netbooks will also be introduced at the show, along with gifts for buyers and the chance to take part in a lottery draw.

Liao said that 7-inch netbooks will be phased out starting in the first quarter of next year, leaving only 8.9 and 10-inch netbooks in the market.

However, the company will not be offering 12-inch screen models for the slim, Apple MacAir look-alike because of restrictions by Microsoft Corp and Intel Corp.

Liao said Asustek was working on increasing collaborations with telecommunications operators to position the netbook as an affordable “second laptop” for consumers.

In related news, Microsoft’s MSN Windows Live online services group said yesterday it considered its proprietary Silverlight technology as an entrypoint into the booming multimedia market.

Solutions Research forecast that from last year through 2010, global online multimedia market revenues would increase from US$1 billion to US$5.9 billion, Leslie Chu (朱會泳), general manager for MSN’s Online Services Group in Taiwan and Hong Kong, said at a press conference.

Microsoft Silverlight technology is similar to Flash which supports powerful applications and delivers high quality, interactive video across Web and mobile devices, the company said.

To promote a content-rich Web site, MSN has collaborated with Japanese TV producer Koichi Toda to create a mini-soap series called Climax to produce five to six-minute clips featuring famous Japanese movie and TV celebrities.

Taiwan is currently the only country running this pilot series in its “Silverlight Multimedia Store.”

“Rather than creating a YouTube kind of environment, which we already have through SoapBox, or an Apple iTunes store, MSN is working at obtaining popular music concert, TV and movie rights to air programs on our platform free of charge to viewers,” said Paul Lin (林伯龍), channel manager at MSN Online Services Group.

The company’s primary business revenues are still derived from online advertising shown when the clips are shown, he said.
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