Asustek Aims Become a Top 3 Notebook Supplier in Six Years

by Anton Shilov
09/06/2007 | 08:56 AM

Asustek Computer, currently the world’s largest maker of mainboards for desktop computers, reportedly plans to become of one of the top three laptop makers in six years from now, the company said. Being one of the largest notebook suppliers means commanding a substantial market share, as the vast majority of sales are concentrated at the hands of top makers.

Jerry Shen, chief executive officer of Asustek Computer, is reported to have said at a news conference in Taiwan that Asustek will squeeze into the world’s big five brands in next three years, and into top three brands in next six years, reports China Economic News Service news-agency. Currently the company is ranked as the No. 8 own-brand notebook supplier in the world, but the firm’s chief executive believes that positive sales in the second half of the year will bring the company onto the No. 6 position.

The company indicated that it would concentrate on mainstream and high-end products in order to get into the top five notebook suppliers list, but the firm acknowledged that in order to successfully compete against the current largest makers of laptops, such as HP, Dell, Acer, Lenovo/IBM and Toshiba, it needs to have low-cost models too, therefore, the company promised to offer them.

According to market tracking firm iSuppli, the aforementioned top five notebook vendors shipped 78.4% of mobile computers last year, which is a clear indicator that Asustek will have to compete fiercely with them for every percent of the market.

In April, 2007, it was reported that Asustek had reached an agreement with Best Buy, one of the largest retail chains in the United States, to sell its own-brand notebooks through its stores. If the report is correct, Asus brand-name will indisputably become much more well known in the country, as far not all consumers acquire computers through online stores or read reviews and may not recognize Asustek.  The exact lineup of Asus’ mobile computers to be sold in Best Buy stores is still unclear. However, it should be noted that while Asus generally targets lucrative market of advanced machines, large retail chains are more interested in notebooks for general consumers with budget constraints.

Earlier this year Asustek Computer also spun-off its contract manufacturing business into a separate company in order to avoid conflict of interests between its customers’ and Asus-branded products.