Asustek, one of the world's leading motherboard makers, is making inroads into the highly competitive notebook computer market. The company hopes to do so by offering customers leading-edge but affordable laptops, of which it plans to launch several new models at this year's Computex.
Asustek's latest product release is its S8 computer, which is "both slim and sleek," said Alan Chan (
Weighing 1.5 kg, the laptop is less than 2.54cm in width. It for around NT$40,000, although the price varies almost weekly, attesting to the high level of competition in the laptop market.
PHOTO: GEORGE TSORNG, TAIPEI TIMES
Thanks to imput from the company's Italian designers, the handsome computer bagged one out of five National Design Awards, the first such prize ever awarded to an electronic device. "This is a very unique achievement," said Chan, who makes no secret of his admiration for the laptop.
For those who want to liven up their mood with music while working, there is Asustek's T9 notebook PC which comes with an MP3 player and the A1 Audio DJ, a notebook computer which can function as a "stand-alone" CD player.
Asustek is one of the biggest names in the Taiwan high-tech scene. And the company's entrance was particularly memorable: when first listing on the Taiwan Stock Exchange in 1996, it replaced venerable Cathay Life to become the highest priced stock in in the country.
But the leading company has adopted a profile that is as low-key as its laptops are high-flying. Located in the outskirts of Taipei in Peitou, the company is housed in a drab and simple building that belies the high-tech dynamo within.
"I am very proud to be working for this company," Chan said, who joined the firm after graduating from National Taiwan University's school of business five years ago.
Founded in 1989 by Johnny Shih (
Asustek, which reported 40 percent earnings growth last year, has quickly expanded into a multinational company with nearly 5,200 employees worldwide.
"The company's research and development is particularly strong," said James Wang, a notebook PC watcher at National Securities in Taipei. With a motherboard production capacity of 1.8 million boards per month and a nearly 100 percent yield rate, the company is one of the top motherboard makers in the world. Now it is competing with the likes of Hewlett Packard, Compaq, IBM and Dell.
Despite some recent in the PC market, the notebook computer industry has remained relatively stable. The market is shifting from PCs to notebooks, as consumers are beginning to demand smaller, more portable PCs, analysts say.
The company's ASUS R&K notebook computer was chosen in 1998 as the notebook to be used in the Mir Space Station. This was another milestone for a company which in the same year introduced the lightest full-featured notebook computer in the world, weighing 2.75kg.
Last year, the firm's earnings grew 40 percent. The company ships 50,000 notebooks monthly, of which nearly half bear its own brand name.
"Apart from Acer, no other company [in Taiwan] sells self-branded notebooks," Chan said.
The company's notebook OEM business is also highly competi-tive, thanks to close links that have been cultivated between designers and manufacturers. Its relatively low-yield rate of 80 percent compared to 95 percent for PCs is also an important factor.
To save costs, the company's sprawling plant in China's Suzhou province began production at the end of last year.
The plant's operations are "booming" Chan said, as the plant already accounts for nearly one-fourth of its total motherboard and CD-R production.
Motherboard products now account for 55 percent of the company's total revenue, followed by notebook PCs, which account for about 20 percent. Image graphic chips comprise between 20 to 25 percent.
"We expect to grow by at least 100 percent in the notebook sector," Chan said.
Products expected to be on display at Computex are the Pentium 4 motherboard and the latest graphic cards.
Other new products include the latest 16x DVD-ROM and another CD-W DVD -- a combination of DVD and a powerful CD-RW.
With regards to the information appliances sector, the company plans to introduce personal digital assistants in the second half, and its handheld PCs are already marketed in South Korea.
"The transition it seems is quite smooth," Wang said.
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