Asustek Computer Inc (華碩), the world’s No. 5 PC brand, yesterday said that it plans to introduce two more wearable devices in the second half of next year, seeking to repeat the success of the smartwatch it launched recently in a bid to become one of the world’s top three suppliers of wearable devices.
Asustek’s ZenWatch has been rolled out ahead of Apple Inc’s Apple Watch, which is expected to hit the market early next year.
“ZenWatch is our first wearable device powered by Goolge Inc’s Android Wear system,” Asustek chief executive Jerry Shen (沈振來) said at a product launch for the local market, following the smart device’s overseas debut.
Photo: CNA
Shen said the market reactions to the ZenWatch in the US and Japan have been satisfying. He declined to disclose sales figures.
“Select European countries, China and Hong Kong will be included in the second wave of ZenWatch launches,” he added.
The company said that supplies of the smart device are running short in the US and Japan, which Shen attributed to a components shortage.
Asustek only utilizes 50 percent of its 50,000 units-a-month capacity.
The supply shortage could extend to February next year, Shen said.
Despite this, Asustek is planning to launch the second-generation ZenWatch — which has a voice call function and a smart wristband — in the third quarter of next year.
Asustek hopes that the device, which is priced at NT$5,990, gains popularity in the mass market. That figure is almost half of Apple Watch’s price tag of at least US$349.
Since smartwatches are the first Internet of Things product with foreseeable growth potential, Asustek will strive to become “a key player” in this sector, Shen said.
The company is to boost ZenWatch production in the second half of next year, either to produce the first-generation models, or the second-generation ones, Shen said.
Separately, Shen said that “the weak yen has not affected the revenue ZenWatch has generated for Asustek because the product was launched in Japan in November and the currency appears to have stopped falling since then.”
Asustek’s share price closed down 0.88 percent at NT$337 yesterday, underperforming the TAIEX, which gained 0.97 percent.
PLANNED OUT: The government is lifting sale and export restrictions on 60% of the 20 million masks made daily, but people can still make purchases using their NHI cards Twenty thousand boxes of 50 masks each would be on sale at FamilyMart convenience stores starting tomorrow, Taiwan FamilyMart Co Ltd (全家便利商店) said yesterday. A box of 50 masks would cost NT$249 for those with FamilyMart memberships and NT$299 for those without, with no limits placed on how many boxes a person can buy, the company said. Convenience store chain operator Hi-Life International Co Ltd (萊爾富) said that it would also start selling masks from tomorrow. It has yet to announce details about prices and quantity. Hypermarket chain operator Carrefour Taiwan (家樂福) said that it would start selling packs of five
BOOSTING BUYING: A source said that the idea of pre-ordering vouchers online is being considered, but the preliminary plan is for people to buy them at post offices A stimulus voucher program to be rolled out next month to boost consumption would be available not only to Taiwanese, but also foreign nationals and Chinese spouses who hold residency permits, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The government is fine-tuning the details of the program, which involves issuing vouchers for in-store purchases to revive buying amid the COVID-19 pandemic. During a radio interview on Monday last week, National Development Council (NDC) Minister Kung Ming-hsin (龔明鑫) said that the plan is to allow anyone, regardless of age or income level, to buy NT$3,000 (US$99.89) worth of vouchers for
Delta Electronics Inc (台達電), the nation’s leading power management solutions provider, has signed an agreement to acquire Canadian software firm Trihedral Engineering Ltd to bolster its smart production efforts, it said on Saturday. Delta said in a statement that it would acquire Trihedral for C$45 million (US$32.68 million) through its 100 percent-owned subsidiary Delta Electronics (Netherlands) BV. Trihedral specializes in supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA) and industrial Internet of Things software, which would strengthen Delta’s hardware offerings in fast-growing areas such as automation, artificial intelligence and data analytics, it said. “The collection, monitoring and analyzing of data are critical to Delta’s two
‘ONE-STOP SHOP’: A Miaoli official said that the factory in the Jhunan section of the Hsinchu Science Park would create more than 1,000 jobs and boost prosperity A new high-end IC packaging and testing plant planned by contract chipmaker Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) in Miaoli County is expected to start operations in the middle of next year, Miaoli County Commissioner Hsu Yao-chang (徐耀昌) said. Hsu wrote on Facebook that TSMC, the world’s largest pure wafer foundry operator, would invest NT$303.2 billion (US$10.1 billion) to build the plant, the largest-ever single investment in Taiwan. However, TSMC declined to disclose the financial terms of the deal, while a company board meeting on May 12 approved a spending plan worth NT$168.2 billion as part of its investment plans. Construction of the
RSS