Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) aims to expand its share of Indonesia’s smartphone market to 18 percent next year by shipping 5 million handsets annually, a company executive said.
Chief executive officer Jerry Shen (沈振來) said Asustek’s smartphone shipments to Indonesia would total 4 million units this year, securing it a 15 percent share in the nation’s smartphone market and making it the second-largest smartphone supplier.
“Our goal is to overtake Samsung’s [Electronic Co] market position by 2017,” Shen told reporters on the sidelines of Asustek’s smartphone launch in Jakarta, on Thursday.
Samsung is the No.1 smartphone company in the nation with 25 percent market share.
Shen said the launch of Asustek’s four ZenFone 2 models in Indonesia was delayed by a government policy enacted in August, which requires all 4G devices be manufactured locally.
To comply with the new policy and meet local demand, Asustek started working with an Indonesian original design manufacturer and began sourcing components from local companies this quarter.
Indonesia is Asustek’s largest smartphone market, as an estimated shipment of 4 million handsets to the nation accounts for 20 percent of Asustek’s annual shipment target of 20 million units this year, Shen said, adding that the shipments to Indonesia were almost equal to the shipments to Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines combined.
Regarding the company’s smartphone strategy in Southeast Asia, Shen said consumers in the region prefer shopping at brick-and-mortar stores instead of e-commerce sites.
He said Asustek was able to climb to top positions in the region because it has expertise in traditional sales methods.
Asustek is upbeat about the smartphone market’s growth potential in Southeast Asia and expect to ship a total of 10 million smartphones to Indonesia, Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and the Philippines next year.
Shen on Nov. 11 told investors that the company aims to ship 30 million smartphones next year; an increase of 50 percent from this year’s estimate of 20 million units.
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