Asustek Computer Inc (華碩) chief operating officer S.Y. Hsu (許先越), who oversees the company’s notebook computer business, reportedly tendered his resignation to the firm’s management after more than 20 years of service.
The departure is mainly due to his failed attempts to secure more resources for the notebook business from the management team in an effort to sustain Asustek’s competitiveness in a declining notebook industry, the Chinese-language Apple Daily said, citing unnamed sources at the company.
The report said Hsu had proposed several measures to secure Asustek’s position in the notebook industry, but his proposals were rejected.
Photo courtesy of Harvard Business Review
Asustek chief executive officer Jerry Shen (沈振來) and chief strategy officer Ted Hsu (徐世昌) are doing their best to persuade Hsu to stay with the firm, the report said.
Asustek yesterday declined to comment on the report.
A source at the company told the Taipei Times that Hsu is on leave after submitting his resignation via e-mail on Monday.
He also sent an e-mail to his team on the same day, the source said.
“Hsu’s resignation is not finalized, as management is still discussing the matter with him,” the source, who has direct knowledge of the matter, said by telephone.
“Hsu might change his mind and stay with the company if they can reach a consensus over what would be the best solutions to improve the notebook business,” the source said.
The source said notebooks are Asustek’s core business, contributing 66 percent of its overall brand revenue of NT$98.2 billion (US$3.25 billion) last quarter.
However, the company has been increasing marketing resource allocation to its smartphone business over the past two years, the source said.
The news of Hsu’s departure came one day after Asustek reported soft earnings results for last quarter and predicted an even poorer performance this quarter, anticipating weak demand for PCs and smartphones.
The source said it is certain that the pressure Asustek faces would be greater if Hsu indeed departs.
Hsu joined Asustek’s research and development unit in the 1990s and has been closely helping Shen to improve the notebook business over the past decade.
He played a major role in promoting Asustek’s first Eee PC in 2007, which helped the company to expand its global market share significantly.
Hsu was promoted to chief operating officer in December 2015.
He is also a director on Asustek’s board.
A signaling system malfunction disrupted high-speed rail (HSR) services beginning at 8am today, with trains temporarily reduced to three northbound and three southbound trains per hour as authorities conduct inspections. The malfunction occurred on a section of track in Miaoli County during pre-operation checks early this morning, forcing northbound and southbound trains to use a single track, the HSR operator said. The regular schedule has been replaced with three hourly trains offering only nonreserved seating in each direction, stopping at every station, it said, adding that business class cars would still have reserved seating. Departures from terminal stations are scheduled at the top
DRONE CENTRAL: Taiwan aims to become Asia’s democratic hub for drones, with most exports focused on high-quality military-grade models, an official said Taiwan’s drone industry is expected to expand significantly by 2030, producing 100,000 units per month and exporting half of them, the Ministry of Economic Affairs said yesterday. Current drone production capacity is about 15,000 units per month, but the industry can quickly scale up as demand increases, Industrial Development Administration Director-General Chiou Chyou-huey (邱求慧) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s drone output grew 2.5-fold last year to NT$12.9 billion (US$408.3 million) under a government program to develop the uncrewed vehicle sector, he said. The Executive Yuan in October last year approved plans to invest NT$44.2 billion into domestic production of uncrewed aerial
VERBOSE VESSELS: A CGA cutter and a China Coast Guard exchanged verbal barbs for more than a day in Taiwanese-controlled waters before the Chinese vessel left The Taiwanese and Chinese coast guards had a standoff near the strategically located Pratas Islands (Dongsha Islands, 東沙群島) in the north of the South China Sea, the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) said yesterday. The two sides engaged in intense radio exchanges over sovereignty claims during the 33-hour standoff. China Coast Guard vessel 3501 eventually left the restricted waters, 26.6 nautical miles (49.2km) west of the Pratas Islands, at 5pm yesterday, the CGA said. Lying approximately between southern Taiwan and Hong Kong, the Taiwan-controlled Pratas are seen by some security experts as vulnerable to Chinese attack due to their distance — more than
WARNING: China should stop engaging in actions that undermine regional peace and stability, as it would only build resentment among people across the Strait, the CGA said China has deployed more than 100 navy, coast guard and other vessels in waters from the Yellow Sea to the South China Sea and the western Pacific since US President Donald Trump and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) met in Beijing, National Security Council Secretary-General Joseph Wu (吳釗燮) said yesterday. “In this part of the world, #China is the one & only PROBLEM wrecking the #StatusQuo & threatening regional peace & stability,” Wu wrote on X. In a separate post, he said Beijing was coercing Taiwan’s maritime domain, calling it illegal and provocative, after the Coast Guard Administration (CGA) expelled a
RSS