Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) yesterday said it would not trim its quarterly shipment targets for PC and smartphone products, despite market projections of weak PC demand and technical issues with its ZenFone series.
“Asus sold 1 million handsets worldwide last month and will reach its quarterly smartphone shipment target of 4.8 million this quarter on the back of robust demand for its flagship model [ZenFone 2],” Asustek CEO Jerry Shen (沈振來) told reporters on the sidelines of a product launch event ahead of the opening of the Computex Taipei exhibition today.
The company sold 3 million handsets in the first quarter.
Photo: Pichi Chuang, Reuters
Earlier this month, the company said it was working on a software compatibility solution for its handsets, which caused a short-term shipment delay in April.
Shipments of Asustek smartphones smoothed out last month after the company solved the technical glitch, Shen said.
The company is considering setting a more aggressive shipment target for next quarter after its next high-end smartphone, the ZenFone Selfie, officially goes on sale next month, he said.
The 5.5-inch high-end smartphone is powered by Qualcomm Inc’s Snapdragon 615 processor and features a 13-megapixel module for both front and rear cameras. It features a dual-color, dual LED “Real Tone” flash, which can capture high-resolution, natural-looking selfies, Asustek said.
The company plans to adopt Qualcomm’s processor in its ZenFone 2 products, in addition to Intel Corp’s processors, Shen said.
“We will continue to adopt Intel’s chips for high-end 4GB RAM ZenFone 2 models, with the rest of the lineup powered by Qualcomm’s processor,” he said.
Asustek plans to unveil another high-end smartphone, the ZenFone Zoom, with an optical zoom function in September, as the company aims to achieve its target of shipping between 17 million and 25 million smartphones this year, Shen said.
The company maintained its shipment target for PC products, including notebooks, at 5 million units for this quarter, down 7.4 percent from 5.4 million units last quarter due to weaker-than-expected demand from Europe.
“Notebook shipments this month are better than last month,” Shen said, without offering monthly figures.
At an investors’ conference on May 12, Shen said the company was optimistic about PC shipments picking up next quarter after the release of Microsoft Corp’s Windows 10 operating system and Intel’s Skylake generation of processors.
Shen said that notebook shipments next quarter are expected to grow by at least a double-digit percentage from this quarter’s 4.5 million units on the back of strong sales of Asustek’s two-in-one detachable notebooks and the upcoming launch of two Chromebooks in the US market next quarter.
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