Asustek Computer Inc (華碩電腦) on Saturday declined to respond to an appeal by Ukraine’s minister of digital transformation to stop doing business with Russia in the wake of its invasion of Ukraine.
Ukrainian First Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation Mykhailo Fedorov on Thursday posted on Twitter a letter to Asustek chairman Jonney Shih (施崇棠), asking him to stop doing business with Russia until “the Russian aggression in Ukraine is fully stopped and fair order is restored.”
He called on Asustek to halt its relationships with Russia-based customers and partners, and no longer supply them with hardware and electronics or technical support.
Photo courtesy of Asustek Computer Inc
Asustek on Saturday evening said that it would not respond at this time.
A local investment consultant estimates that Russia accounted for less than 5 percent of Asustek’ notebook shipments last year, but the company’s computers might have a strong presence in the Russian market.
A consumer survey by online statistics database Statista last year found that 29 percent of Russian respondents said they owned an Asustek laptop, followed by Acer Inc (宏碁) at 23 percent, Lenovo Group Ltd (聯想) at 19 percent and HP Inc at 13 percent.
Fedorov’s letter was nearly identical to many others he posted on Twitter urging tech companies such as PayPal Inc, Microsoft Corp, Union Pay, Hitachi Corp, Netscout Systems Inc, Intel Corp, SAP SE and Amazon.com Inc to end their business ties with Russia.
In the Asustek letter, he cited the examples of Oracle Corp, Samsung Electronics Co, Dell Inc and Siemens AG suspending their operations in Russia, and Mastercard Inc and Visa Inc blocking credit card services to banks in that country.
“The IT industry always values and supports values of responsibility and democracy. We believe, your company also shares them. Now, responsibility is the choice, the choice that defines the future. And now, more than ever, people’s lives depend on your choice,” the letter said.
Since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, more than 330 companies have withdrawn from or suspended operations in Russia, al-Jazeera reported.
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