Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) yesterday apologized for charging Taiwanese consumers more for its new ZenFone smartphone than it is charging in China.
“We are sorry for causing inconvenience to our Taiwanese customers because of the price and spec difference,” Asustek chairman Jonney Shih (施崇棠) told a press conference in Taipei. “We will learn from our mistakes and offer customers compensation to express our sincerest apologies.”
Shih was referring to Asustek’s new 5-inch ZenFone smartphone that launched in Taipei on Tuesday last week at NT$4,490 with 1 gigabyte (GB) of RAM and 8GB of internal memory. But when the handset was released in Beijing on Friday last week, it was found to be priced at 999 yuan, or about NT$4,844, with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal memory. The same version of ZenFone is priced at NT$5,490 with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of internal memory in Taiwan.
Some Taiwanese customers criticized the company online saying Asustek “favors China,” while others said they were planning to cancel orders.
Asustek chief executive Jerry Shen (沈振來) said the management decided to upgrade the 5-inch ZenFone’s specifications and change its price in China because the firm was concerned about intense market competition, after Xiaomi Corp (小米) launched its 5.5-inch Hongmi Note smartphone on March 19 priced at 799 yuan.
Shen said he was “deeply sorry to all customers” for issues involving pricing and specifications, as well as the order backlog.
Shen said Asustek adjusted its supply chain to meet demand after some customers were told on Monday and Tuesday that their orders could not be filled.
Many customers canceled their orders for the red ZenFone 5, ZenFone 6 and PadFone Mini models, he said.
Asustek chief financial officer David Chang (張偉明) said the company’s monthly smartphone shipments are expected to increased to between 400,000 and 500,000 units next month from a range of between 200,000 and 300,000 units this month, once the company’s supply issues are fixed.
The volume is expected to stay at the 500,000-unit level in June as a result of solid market demand, Chang said.
To win back local customers, Asustek said it will cut the price of its 5-inch ZenFone smartphone that runs a 1.6 gigahertz processor to NT$3,990 for customers in Taiwan. The handset has 1GB of RAM and 8GB of internal memory, Asustek said.
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