At their CES press conference today Asus has said that they are looking at entering the smartphone market in a move that would take them head on with HTC.
Johnny Shih, CEO of Asus, said that the Company is looking at an Eee-branded phone that will most probabally run the Google Android operating system.
Speaking to TechRadar at Asus’ keynote speech at CES 2009, Shih said that the company was looking at a ‘two-pronged’ approach to simple, easy to use devices, meaning a device that can be “put in the pocket, play MP3s, offer GPS services, works like a PDA and offers Mobile TV altogether,” according to Shih.
During the past month HTC a fellow Taiwanese Company has said that they have witnessed record sales of Google Android phones in the US market.
Shih said “momentum” Google has already built with the Android system, and he also said the company is looking into using it, either with an Eee PC or the Eee Phone, with a number of companies already looking at importing the Android interface to the Eee PC model.
Shih also commented that Asus didn’t see Apple, with its successful iPhone, as a direct competitor, instead seeing it as the model others should be looking to emulate after unveiling a number of touchscreen devices at this year’s CES show.
In a question from SmartHouse Shih said “I think Apple has done a great job [with the iPhone], in fact what they’ve done is our model. We’ve done a lot of study on Apple.”
