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ASUS CEO Resigns as Company Shifts Mobile Focus To Power Users (engadget.com)
Earlier today, ASUS announced that long-time CEO Jerry Shen is stepping down ahead of "a comprehensive corporate transformation" -- part of which involving a new co-CEO structure, as well as a major shift in mobile strategy to focus on gamers and power users. From a report: In other words, we'll be seeing more ROG Phones and maybe fewer ZenFones, which is a way to admit defeat in what ASUS chairman Jonney Shih described as a "bloody battlefield" in his interview with Business Next. During his 11 years serving as CEO, Shen oversaw the launch of the PadFone series, Transformer series, ZenBook series and ZenFone series. Prior to that, Shen was also credited as the main creator of the Eee PC, the small machine that kickstarted the netbook race in 2006.
Apple realized long ago a battle at the low end is one that leaves no victors.
It's a good idea to focus on finding and winning over people who are willing to pay for extra power and features. The other benefit of that approach is you are likely to find more loyal users, if you go chasing after people who ignore specs and value and just chase the cheapest model, they will have zero brand loyalty and may well not purchase your phones again when upgrading.
To win over repeat customers means putting money into design and build that knock you right out of contention at the low end of the market.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
RIM did it for 2 decades and it seemed to work out just fine.
His netbook move was not vain.
I still have one. 32 bits celeron working OK with a small Linux distro. I use it as a calculator for lab related stuff. Back in the day, a Linux compatible portable computer sold for cheap without the Microsoft tax was big news.
The Macbooks are (currently) made by Quanta. They're an ODM - original design manufacturer. That's like an OEM, except they also design the product. They're the ones who came up with such innovations like hogging a unibody laptop chassis out of a single solid piece of aluminum, not Apple. Slashdot had an article describing how they bought the CNC milling machinery, were playing around with hogging out aluminum billets, and pitched the idea to Apple. Quanta also makes laptops for pretty much every other laptop brand out there, so no, Apple doesn't have a monopoly on quality. I always tell buyers that about the only thing the brand name tells you is what sort of aftermarket support you'll get.
Asus also started off as an ODM too. They made the old Powerbooks and the plastic Macbooks, as well as a few other Apple devices. They spun off their ODM division as Pegatron (the company founder likes Pegasus - both company names are derived from it) a decade ago due to complaints from their customers about conflict of interest (they also sold laptops under the Asus brand). Likewise, the iPhones are made by Foxconn, which is probably more widely known due to PR managers at Apple dumping blame for all the bad things that happen to iPhones onto Foxconn in order to preserve the Apple brand name.
The only hardware Apple makes is their processor. Everything else is made by other companies. Memory by Samsung and SK Hynix. Flash storage by Samsung and Toshiba. Screen by Samsung and LG, camera by Sony, etc. Apple just hires an ODM and gives them the general design specs they want it to meet. The ODM makes the product, buying parts that are available to all other brand names, and packages them together into a whole. Just like every other brand name. There is no magic unicorn dust inside. Sorry to burst your bubble.
What Apple figured out is the Gucci effect. If you develop a strong brand name, people will pay extra to buy it regardless of features or quality.