Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s No. 6 PC brand, yesterday said it expected to ship 300,000 units of the Eee Pad Transformer this month.
Sales of the Transformer should make up more than 10 percent of Asustek’s revenue this month, chairman Jonney Shih (施崇棠) told reporters on the sidelines of a shareholders’ meeting.
Combined shipments of the Transformer will exceed 400,000 units in the second quarter, Shih added.
That would exceed the forecast of CEO Jerry Shen (沈振來), who said in early April that the company expected to ship 300,000 Transformers in the second quarter.
Development of the second and third generation of the Transformer — a 10-inch Android 3.0 machine that has a detachable keyboard dock — has begun, even as Asustek aims to sell 2 million tablets by the end of the year, Shen said.
Shih applauded Shen, saying he had been tasked with “mission impossible” to lead Asustek through the challenging PC landscape.
Shen said its future tablets will be lighter to entice consumers and more “incredible” notebook products were in the development pipeline.
The PC maker previewed the Padfone — a smartphone and tablet combo — last week at Computex Taipei.
Consumers could use the smartphone for calls or put the phone in the docking at the back of the tablet, allowing users to utilize the phone’s 3G connection to check their e-mail or watch YouTube on a larger panel.
The Padfone would impress consumers with its “perfection,” Shen said.
The product will be launched by Christmas, he said.
Another innovation at Computex Taipei that drew attention was the UX ultraportable notebooks — considered a rival to Apple Inc’s MacBook Air.
The UX series has two models — one 11.6 inches and another 13.3 inches, with weights of 1.1kg and 1.3kg respectively. They measure 17mm at the thickest point and use Intel Core i7 chips.
A software engineer told the Taipei Times at the fair that the company was working to throw extra “wow factors” into the UX, such as the ability them to recharge smartphones via USB ports even when the computers are turned off.
The shareholders’ meeting yesterday approved the release of NT$16.2 in dividends, with cash dividends of NT$14 per share and stock dividends of NT$2.2 per share.
Asustek reported NT$24.1 billion (US$838 million) in revenue last month, up 10 percent from last year, but down 3 percent from the previous month, according to a statement.
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