ASUS who earlier this month appointed a new management team to run their Australian operation after the sudden departure of the former CEO has admitted that the new Apple iPad is hurting demand for the company’s Eee netbook.
The Company has also announced that it is joining Samsung in developing their own application store, they also set to launch a new range of tablet PC’s to compete with the iPad. In other moves China and other third world Countries are set to take priority over Australia as the Company looks to compensate for falling US sales.
Earlier this month ASUS was forced to appoint Ms. Mia Tsai as the new Managing Director and Head of the Open Platform Business Group for ASUS in Australia after the sudden departure of Former MD Ted Chen and his Marketing Director wife Carmen Li, who were described as “being out of control” at the Australian operation.
On Friday the Company offered a cautious outlook for the third quarter, as executives said that Apples iPad was hurting demand for its Eee netbook.
ASUS whose sales have declined significantly in Australia plans to ship 2.7 million notebook PCs in the current quarter, up 13% from the second quarter, but said shipments of its Eee netbook, a small, low-cost computer, will fall about 7% to 1.4 million units in the third quarter.
ASUS has also reported a profit of $104.2 million after losses in the past two quarters. Revenue in the second quarter rose 54% year-to-year though the total was down 6% from the first quarter.
Asustek, which is also a large maker of computer motherboards, said it is targeting shipments of 5.2 million motherboards in the third quarter, up roughly 16% from 4.5 million in the second quarter. Overall revenue in the third quarter should increase 5% to 10% from the second quarter, Mr. Chang said.
AUSUS’s global shipments of notebook and Eee PCs will be between 16 million and 18 million this year, said Mr. Chang. If the global economic recovery picks up sharply, shipments could exceed 17 million units this year, he added.
In early June, Asustek unveiled a tablet computer that will run on Microsoft Corp. software, joining the battle to take on the iPad. It plans to start selling the new device, called the Eee Pad, in the first quarter of next year.
