After two years of partnership, Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) and Garmin Ltd, the US’ No. 1 portable navigation devices maker, are calling it quits.
Asustek, the world’s No. 5 PC brand, yesterday confirmed that both parties agreed to scrap their “co-branding” strategy starting from next year.
That means consumers will no longer find smartphones that bear the “Garmin-Asus” logo in the future because Garmin has decided to pull out of the smartphone business, Asustek corporate vice president Benson Lin (林宗樑) told a media briefing.
“Navigation smartphones need more time to take off ... We are not keeping up with industry changes and are losing competitiveness,” Lin said.
Ending the co-branding partnership will allow the companies to “focus on [their] respective core competencies,” he said.
Asustek and Garmin teamed up in January last year to introduce co-branded smartphones, with Asustek managing the hardware and Garmin supplying the navigation solutions.
The two companies had plans to officially launch a joint venture this year to enhance the partnership, but the idea was scrapped after sales of Garmin-Asus phones hit a snag in the US amid strong competition from Apple’s iPhone and the wide availability of Google Maps in other smartphones, Lin said.
After the split, Asustek will market handhelds carrying the “Asus” logo, and Garmin will offer exclusive rights to its navigation software to Asustek’s Android-based smartphones “for a few years,” he said, declining to detail the licensing terms.
The split also means Garmin will be able to market its navigation solutions on other app markets for non-Android-based handsets. These include Apple Inc’s App Store and Research In Motion Ltd’s App World.
Garmin’s Dutch rival TomTom NV is selling navigation apps on App Store for US$49.99 for Hong Kong users, US$89.99 for West European users and US$59.99 for US users.
If consumers just get a Garmin-Asus phone, they won’t be able to realize the hidden values offered by Garmin solutions, Lin added.
The two partners had launched six Garmin-Asus smartphones over the last two years, mostly to lukewarm reception. Asustek’s earlier target to ship 1 million smartphones this year remains challenging, analysts said.
The company is hoping that its recent foray into TD-SCDMA phones for the Chinese market will bear fruit and help expand sales.
Lin said Asustek would launch two models running on China’s proprietary 4G standard by the end of the year, adding that the firm was in talks to bundle phone sales through China Mobile Ltd (中國移動), the world’s largest mobile operator by number of subscribers.
RUN IT BACK: A succesful first project working with hyperscalers to design chips encouraged MediaTek to start a second project, aiming to hit stride in 2028 MediaTek Inc (聯發科), the world’s biggest smartphone chip supplier, yesterday said it is engaging a second hyperscaler to help design artificial intelligence (AI) accelerators used in data centers following a similar project expected to generate revenue streams soon. The first AI accelerator project is to bring in US$1 billion revenue next year and several billion US dollars more in 2027, MediaTek chief executive officer Rick Tsai (蔡力行) told a virtual investor conference yesterday. The second AI accelerator project is expected to contribute to revenue beginning in 2028, Tsai said. MediaTek yesterday raised its revenue forecast for the global AI accelerator used
TEMPORARY TRUCE: China has made concessions to ease rare earth trade controls, among others, while Washington holds fire on a 100% tariff on all Chinese goods China is effectively suspending implementation of additional export controls on rare earth metals and terminating investigations targeting US companies in the semiconductor supply chain, the White House announced. The White House on Saturday issued a fact sheet outlining some details of the trade pact agreed to earlier in the week by US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) that aimed to ease tensions between the world’s two largest economies. Under the deal, China is to issue general licenses valid for exports of rare earths, gallium, germanium, antimony and graphite “for the benefit of US end users and their suppliers
Dutch chipmaker Nexperia BV’s China unit yesterday said that it had established sufficient inventories of finished goods and works-in-progress, and that its supply chain remained secure and stable after its parent halted wafer supplies. The Dutch company suspended supplies of wafers to its Chinese assembly plant a week ago, calling it “a direct consequence of the local management’s recent failure to comply with the agreed contractual payment terms,” Reuters reported on Friday last week. Its China unit called Nexperia’s suspension “unilateral” and “extremely irresponsible,” adding that the Dutch parent’s claim about contractual payment was “misleading and highly deceptive,” according to a statement
Artificial intelligence (AI) giant Nvidia Corp’s most advanced chips would be reserved for US companies and kept out of China and other countries, US President Donald Trump said. During an interview that aired on Sunday on CBS’ 60 Minutes program and in comments to reporters aboard Air Force One, Trump said only US customers should have access to the top-end Blackwell chips offered by Nvidia, the world’s most valuable company by market capitalization. “The most advanced, we will not let anybody have them other than the United States,” he told CBS, echoing remarks made earlier to reporters as he returned to Washington
RSS