Asus focuses on corporate resellers for personal computing products

Known for its PC component consumables business, AsusTek India is now trying to carve a niche for itself in the personal
computing space. And it is looking at corporate resellers to help it achieve this objective. Besides
notebooks, the company will introduce its barebone PCs and servers in the JAS quarter in India. Says Andrew Tsui, MD, Asus India, "Our product
range consists of personal computing, communication and consumer appliances. We want to bring all these products in theÂ
Indian market gradually."

For the personal computing range, Asus is clear that it will not play in the entry-level business, and will target the mid- and high-end market segment.
When asked whether the company will rely on its existing distributors to manage the logistics of the new introductions, Andrew says, "I don't see any
need to change our distributors. However, we might mutually agree to include more distributors into the Asus business family." Although, the first round
of talks with the existing Asus distributors has been taken for inclusion of the new products, the final decision will be evident only by August-end. 

Though some IT vendors have tapped the consumer electronics channel to sell their computing products, Asus would prefer
to steer clear of this route initially, preferring to do business with the traditional IT channel,
comprising distributors and resellers. It is not planning on going to market with retailers at the moment, since it is targeting the upwardly mobile
customer segment, which can be catered by corporate resellers. "Besides basic selection criteria like product specific experience, reachÂ
and coverage in particular segments, we will be attracted to partners who believe in the Asus philosophy of quality in all aspects like product
knowledge, service, new feature education and promotion," adds Andrew.

As with its graphic cards and motherboards, Andrew expects his distributors to educate the channel with technical knowledge
and provide adequate inventory and financial support, for the personal computing products as
well. The company feels that it has created good brand equity for itself amongst the channel and end-users and will leverage on this to propel the
sales of its laptops, servers and barebone PCs. 

Talking about the USP of Asus laptops, Andrew points out that these machines have a power saving technology calledÂ
Power4 Gear. This significantly increases battery life by allowing manual and automatic CPU speed adjustment
according to system load. "Power4 Gear will control the CPU for different applications such as word processing, music playback and 3D
gaming to maximize battery performance," he adds. 

VINITA BHATIA

Mumbai