Asus Tech – College Essay Example

Way of Total Quality Management." This commitment allows them to provide the best quality products while maintaining cost and time efficiency. They strive to offer maximum value to their customers and deliver world-class services. In recognition of their commitment to innovation and quality, ASUS received a total of 2,568 awards in 2007. This means that, on average, the company received over 7 awards every day during that year. ASUS has consistently ranked in BusinessWeek's "InfoTech 100" for the past 10 years and is recognized as the top provider of quality products and services by the Wall Street Journal.

ASUS has achieved the top spot on the annual Taiwan Top 10 Global Brands league table, with a brand value of 11.96 billion US dollars. The company's corporate vision is to imagine innovative technologies that simplify our lives and help us reach our full potential. ASUS believes that devices should adapt to us, not the other way around, and strives to become an integrated 3C solution provider (Computer, Communications, Consumer electronics). Their mission is to provide innovative IT solutions that empower people and businesses. ASUS follows a philosophy of doing the fundamentals well before expanding. Initially focused on computer components, such as motherboards and graphic cards, ASUS now offers over 16 product lines, including desktop barebone systems, servers, notebooks, handhelds, network devices, broadband communications, LCD monitors, TVs, wireless applications, and CPT products (chassis, power supply, and thermal).

Management Philosophy: •Inspire, motivate and nurture our employees to explore their highest potential •Commit to integrity and diligence; focus on fundamentals and results •Endlessly pursue to be number 1 in the areas of quality, speed, service, innovation and cost-efficiency •Strive

to be among the world-class high-tech leaders and to provide valuable contributions to humanity.

COMPETITORS: Competitive analysis of the Fonera 2.0 vs Belkin, Linksys, Asus and D-Link. Below is a comparison table listing features and prices of the Fonera 2.0 and its closest competitors.

Companies like ASUS, Planex, D-Link, Belkin, and Linksys sell wireless routers with USB ports and storage features. However, none of these routers offer the same functionality or can match the price of the Fonera 2. 0. With a price of only 49ˆ, the Fonera 2. 0 is the best option on the market for those seeking a smart router. It not only provides wifi but also allows for the sharing of hard drives, printers, and webcams within your network. Additionally, it can delegate downloading and uploading activities to a small and affordable router, which eliminates the need to keep your PC on while downloading at night. By using the Fonera 2. 0, you can save money and reduce carbon emissions.

The Fonera 2.0 has competitors from Planex and ASUS. These routers allow downloading of files from BitTorrent to a USB hard drive and sharing a printer on the network. However, they lack many of the Fonera 2.0's features such as YouTube, Flickr, and Picasa uploaders, support for 3G modems, and downloaders for Megaupload and Rapidshare. Both ASUS and Planex routers have the capability to stream files to iTunes-equipped PCs or media devices, and the Fonera 2.0 will soon release the same iTunes server functionality. Additionally, the Fonera 2.0 allows sharing of bandwidth at home, earning money with WiFi connection, and free roaming worldwide, which is a unique feature not found in any other

router. The Fonera remains the only social router in the world. Planex routers are difficult to find in Europe or the US, while the ASUS WL-500g Premium costs around 100ˆ and its larger version, the WL-700 with a 250GB drive, costs around 220ˆ.

The other routers in the table are more expensive than our Fonera 2.0, but they only offer basic file sharing features. The Belkin N+ router and D-Link DIR-855 provide better coverage because they use the 802.11n standard, whereas our Fonera 2.0 uses 802.11g. However, our Fontennas can surpass their coverage capabilities. To keep the price of the Fonera low, we made the decision not to include a hard drive, considering that there are now 1 terabyte HDDs available for only 99 euros. The Fonera works best with a USB 2.0 hub, allowing you to connect pen drives, hard drives, web cams, 3G dongles, or any other USB device you prefer. Regarding our relationship with Intel:

In the 1990s, motherboard manufacturers in Taiwan were not yet dominant in the computer hardware industry. Initially, Intel would provide new processors to established companies such as IBM, causing Taiwanese companies to wait around six months after IBM received their prototype. However, when Intel released its 486 as engineering samples, ASUS took the initiative to design their own 486 motherboard without having a physical sample on site. They relied solely on the technical information published by Intel and their expertise gained from producing motherboards compatible with the 386 processor.

When ASUS completed their prototype for a 486 motherboard, they brought it to Intel's base in Taiwan for testing. Upon arrival, they were not formally greeted, as it

turned out that Intel's own prototype for a 486 motherboard had design flaws and their engineers were working to fix them. The founders of ASUS, drawing upon their experience with the 486, examined Intel's faulty motherboard. To the surprise of the Intel engineers, the solution proposed by ASUS worked effectively. As a result, Intel proceeded to test the ASUS prototype, which performed flawlessly.

The informal relationship between ASUS and Intel began, allowing ASUS to receive Intel engineering samples before its competitors. ASUS has also become a major supporter of Intel's Common Building Block initiatives. In addition to their own products, ASUS manufactures components for other companies including Apple Inc., Alienware, Falcon Northwest, Palm Inc., HP, and Sony Computer Entertainment for PlayStation 3. As of 2009, ASUS has manufacturing facilities in Taipei, Lujhu, Nankan, and Gueishan in Taiwan.

ASUS has manufacturing facilities in Mainland China (Suzhou), Mexico (Juarez), and the Czech Republic (Ostrava). These facilities have a monthly production capacity of two million motherboards and 150,000 notebook computers. In Suzhou, China, ASUS operates the ASUS Hi-Tech Park, which is spread over an area of 540,000 square meters, equivalent to 82 soccer fields. The company has a strong international presence with 50 service sites in 32 countries and over 400 service partners worldwide, offering support in 37 different languages. One of ASUS's sub-brands, Eee, has been highly acclaimed since its launch in October 2007. The Eee PC netbook has received various awards, such as Forbes Asia’s Product of the Year, Stuff Magazine’s Gadget of the Year and Computer of the Year, NBC.com’s Best Travel Gadget, Computer Shopper's Best Netbook of 2008, PC Pro's Hardware of the Year,

PC World's Best Netbook, and DIME magazine’s 2008 Trend Award Winner. ASUS has expanded its Eee lineup to include products like the Eee Box, Eee Top, and Eee Stick. The company also introduced the Eee Box B202, described as "the desktop equivalent of the Asus EeePC," on March 6, 2009.

The price of this desktop, ranging from US$269 to US$299, makes it a direct competitor to the Apple Mac Mini. In January 2008, ASUS initiated a corporate restructuring plan, resulting in three separate operational units: ASUS, Pegatron, and Unihan. The ASUS brand will exclusively cover their own-branded computers, while Pegatron will specialize in motherboard and component OEM manufacturing. Unihan's focus will be on non-PC manufacturing, including cases and molding.

During the restructuring process, the company effectively eliminated the current pension balances, which had been highly criticized. All of the contributions made by employees were paid out. Diversification is driven by reasons such as globalization, international competition, and the spread of information technology. These factors have increased competition and necessitated change in order to remain competitive. ASUS diversification serves several purposes: utilizing expertise and knowledge gained in one business to diversify into related areas, and creating synergy where the value added by the corporate office is greater than if the businesses in the portfolio were separate and independent. This is a major motivation for ASUS diversification.

ASUS aims to gain market power compared to its competitors by pursuing product diversification. This strategy helps reduce the risk associated with relying heavily on a single product. Additionally, diversification allows the company to decrease marketing costs through promotional activities that benefit all ASUS products. Using both its own distribution

channels and those acquired from other companies, ASUS can sell its entire product range. By effectively sharing resources and capabilities among its businesses, ASUS can lower operational costs and achieve economies of scope. Hence, diversification demonstrates positive results for the company. Notably, on December 9, 2008, ASUSTek Computer Inc. joined the Open Handset Alliance as one of 14 new members.

These "new members will either deploy compatible Android devices, contribute significant code to the Android Open Source Project, or support the ecosystem through products and services that will accelerate the availability of Android-based devices."

Timeline:

•2002: Formed subsidiary ASRock.

•September/October 2003: debuts in the cellphone market with the J100 model.

•September 2005: releases their first PhysX accelerator card.

•December 2005: enters the LCD TV market with the TLW32001 model, initially only available on the Taiwan market.

•January 2006: ASUS announced that it would cooperate with Lamborghini to develop its VX series.

March 9, 2006: ASUS announced as one of the producers of the first Microsoft Origami models, together with Samsung and Founder. Samsung and ASUS devices expected by April 2006.

•August 8, 2006: announced joint venture with Gigabyte Technology.

•June 5, 2007: ASUS announced the Eee PC at COMPUTEX Taipei 2007.

•September 9, 2007: ASUS started to support Blu-Ray by announcing the release of a BD-ROM/DVD writer PC drive, BC-1205PT.

Several Blu-Ray based notebooks were released following the launch of a PDA/smartphone range to the UK market on October 31, 2007. On January 3, 2008, ASUS formally split into three companies: ASUSTeK, Pegatron, and Unihan. In May 2008, the incompatibility of the ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe motherboard with Windows XP SP3 was first discovered. In

August 2008, ASUS refused to accept responsibility or provide support for this incompatibility. Nevertheless, they created a new motherboard (ZT23) that could clock a processing speed of 120GHz, setting a record. On August 22, 2008, details of the N10 were leaked online. In December 2008, ASUS quietly released a beta BIOS update that potentially fixed the Windows XP SP3 incompatibility with the ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe motherboard. Registered consumers of the motherboard received no notification of this release. The company website's software-update service only advised users to update to this version if their systems displayed relevant symptoms.

FINANCIAL IMPACT: In 2008, ASUS generated revenue of US$ 22.9 billion and net income of $0.84 billion USD. ASUS has been recognized in BusinessWeek's "InfoTech 100" and "Asia's Top 10 IT Companies" rankings. According to Wall Street Journal Asia, ASUS is the leader in quality and service. In the 2008 Taiwan Top 10 Global Brands survey, ASUS leads the IT Hardware category with a total brand value of US$1.324 billion. After diversification, ASUS is focused on revenue maximization and is committed to corporate responsibility through their Green ASUS initiative.