At first glance, the PC market is pretty darn mature. But walk into a Target retail store in New York or visit a computer retailer in Melbourne, Australia and you'll see the start of a new revolution -- driven by Asustek Computer (a.k.a. Asus).

The VAR Guy

November 4, 2008

2 Min Read
Asustek: The Next Great PC Company?

Asus Eee PC 900At first glance, the PC market is pretty darn mature. But walk into a Target retail store in New York or visit a computer retailer in Melbourne, Australia and you’ll see the start of a new revolution — driven by Asustek Computer (a.k.a. Asus).

Sure, Asus is well-known for its Eee PC, a Netbook that runs either Linux or Windows XP. Demand for Netbooks is skyrocketing, and the sub-notebook market represents the fastest growing segment of the PC industry.

But Asus seems to be more than a one-hit wonder. Consider these six rather impressive facts:

  1. Apparently, The Wall Street Journal ranks Asus among the top Taiwanese companies in terms of product quality.

  2. Three out of 10 Asus Netbooks are shipped with Linux, proving that PC companies with guts can disrupt established markets.

  3. There’s chatter about Asus introducing $200 systems in 2009.

  4. Asus is preparing a smart phone based on Google Android. Open hardware coupled with open software could give Apple’s iPhone a run for its money, The VAR Guy believes.

  5. During a recent trip to Australia, The VAR Guy estimates 30 percent of the notebooks he saw in local airports (Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane) were from Asus.

  6. Australia resellers such as GeekCentral say Asus systems are flying off their shelves.

Alas, there’s no money in reselling hardware these days. But there is a global channel angle here, folks: Asus systems (and rival Netbooks) could emerge as popular endpoints for managed service providers and WiFi service providers.

And Asus will most certainly give Linux, Google Android and open source a lift along the way.

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