Asus

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ASUSTeK Computer Inc.
華碩電腦股份有限公司
ASUS
Public
Traded as TWSE: 2357, LSE: ASKD
Industry Computer hardware
Electronics
Founded April 2, 1989 (1989-04-02)
Founder Ted Hsu, M.T. Liao, Wayne Tsiah, T.H. Tung
Headquarters Beitou District, Taipei, Taiwan
Area served
 Worldwide
Key people
 Jonney Shih (Chairman)
Products Desktops, laptops, netbooks, mobile phones, networking equipment, monitors, projectors, motherboards, graphics cards, optical storage, multimedia products, peripherals, wearables, servers, workstations, and tablet PCs
Revenue NT$472.4 billion (2015)[1]
NT$21.0 billion (2015)[1]
Profit NT$17.0 billion (2015)[1]
Total assets NT$333.6 billion (2015)[1]
Total equity NT$167.3 billion (2015)[1]
Number of employees
 6,067 (2015)[2]
Website www.ASUS.com
Asus
Traditional Chinese 華碩電腦股份有限公司
Simplified Chinese 华硕电脑股份有限公司
Literal meaning ASUS Computer Stock-share Limited Company
ASUS
Traditional Chinese 華碩
Simplified Chinese 华硕
Literal meaning "Chinese-Eminent"
Eminence of/by the Chinese people
(traditional Chinese: 華人之碩; simplified Chinese: 华人之硕)

ASUSTeK Computer Inc. (traditional Chinese: 華碩電腦股份有限公司; simplified Chinese: 华硕电脑股份有限公司; pinyin: Huáshuò Diànnǎo Gǔfèn Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī) (marketed as ASUS), is a Taiwanese multinational computer hardware and electronics company headquartered in Beitou District, Taipei, Taiwan. Its products include desktops, laptops, netbooks, mobile phones, networking equipment, monitors, projectors, motherboards, graphics cards, optical storage, multimedia products, peripherals, wearables, servers, workstations, and tablet PCs. The company is also an OEM manufacturer.

Asus is the world's 4th-largest PC vendor by 2015 unit sales.[3] Asus appears in BusinessWeek’s "InfoTech 100" and "Asia’s Top 10 IT Companies" rankings, and it ranked first in the IT Hardware category of the 2008 Taiwan Top 10 Global Brands survey with a total brand value of $1.3 billion.[4]

Asus has a primary listing on the Taiwan Stock Exchange under the ticker code 2357 and a secondary listing on the London Stock Exchange under a ticker code ASKD.

Name

The company is usually referred to as "ASUS" (/eɪˈsuːs/[5]) or Huáshuò in Chinese (traditional Chinese: 華碩; simplified Chinese: 华硕, literally "Eminence of/by the Chinese (people)"). According to the company website, the name ASUS originates from Pegasus, the winged horse of Greek mythology.[6][7] Only the last four letters of the word were used in order to give the name a high position in alphabetical listings.[8] The company's slogan/tagline was "Rock Solid. Heart Touching", then "Inspiring Innovation. Persistent Perfection." and is currently "In Search of Incredible."[9]

History

Asus was founded in Taipei in 1989[10] by T.H. Tung, Ted Hsu, Wayne Hsieh and M.T. Liao,[11] all four having previously worked at Acer as hardware engineers. At this time, Taiwan had yet to establish a leading position in the computer-hardware business. Intel Corporation would supply any new processors to more established companies like IBM first, and Taiwanese companies would have to wait for approximately six months after IBM received their engineering prototypes. According to the legend, the company created a prototype for a motherboard using an Intel 486, but it had to do so without access to the actual processor. When Asus approached Intel to request a processor to test it, Intel itself had a problem with their motherboard. Asus solved Intel's problem and it turned out that Asus' own motherboard worked correctly without the need for further modification. Since then, Asus was receiving Intel engineering samples ahead of its competitors.[12][13]

In September 2005 Asus released the first PhysX accelerator card.[14] In December 2005 ASUS entered the LCD TV market with the TLW32001 model.[15] In January 2006 ASUS announced that it would cooperate with Lamborghini to develop the VX series.[16]

On 9 March 2006 Asus was confirmed as one of the manufacturers of the first Microsoft Origami models, together with Samsung and Founder Technology.[17] On 8 August 2006 Asus announced a joint venture with Gigabyte Technology.[18] On 5 June 2007 Asus announced the launch of the Eee PC at COMPUTEX Taipei. On 9 September 2007 Asus indicated support for Blu-ray, announcing the release of a BD-ROM/DVD writer PC drive, BC-1205PT.[19] ASUS subsequently released several Blu-ray based notebooks.

In January 2008, ASUS began a major restructuring of its operations, splitting into three independent companies: ASUS (focused on applied first-party branded computers and electronics); Pegatron (focused on OEM manufacturing of motherboards and components); and Unihan Corporation (focused on non-PC manufacturing such as cases and molding).[20][21] In the process of the restructuring, a highly criticized pension-plan restructuring effectively zeroed out the existing pension balances. The company paid out all contributions previously made by employees.[22]

On 9 December 2008, the Open Handset Alliance announced that Asus had become one of 14 new members of the organization. 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."[23]

On 1 June 2010, Asus spun off Pegatron Corp.[24] In October 2010, Asus and Garmin announced that they would be ending their smartphone partnership as a result of Garmin deciding to exit the product category.[25] The two companies had produced six Garmin-ASUS branded smartphones over the prior two years.[25]

In December 2010, Asus launched the world's thinnest notebook, the Asus U36, with Intel processor voltage standard (not low voltage) Intel core i3 or i5 with a thickness of only 19 mm.[26]

In January 2013, Asus officially ended production of its Eee PC series due to declining sales caused by consumers increasingly switching to tablets and Ultrabooks.[27][28]

Operations

An Asus shop in Hong Kong

Asus has its headquarters in Beitou District, Taipei, Taiwan.[29]

As of 2009 Asus had manufacturing facilities in Taiwan (Taipei, Luzhu, Nangan, Guishan), mainland China (Suzhou, Chongqing), Mexico (Ciudad Juárez) and the Czech Republic (Ostrava). The Asus Hi-Tech Park, located in Suzhou, covers 540,000 m2 (5,800,000 sq ft).

Asus operates around 50 service sites across 32 countries and has over 400 service partners worldwide.

Products

Asus' products include 2-in-1s, laptops, tablet computers, desktop computers, mobile phones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), servers, computer monitors, motherboards, graphics cards, sound cards, optical disc drives, computer networking devices, computer cases, computer components and computer cooling systems.

Smartphones

Main article: Asus ZenFone

Asus also launched many Android-based smartphones, predominantly with Intel rather than ARM processors and often with two sim slots. Asus is currently very influential in big mobile markets like India, China and other Asian countries. It is known as the ZenFone series. Prior to the ZenFone line, Asus has released feature phones such as the Asus v70 and smartphones running on Windows Mobile during the mid-2000s.

Additionally, Asus also produced some hybrid devices with smartphones that can be docked in a tablet screen, known as Padfone series. The product lineup are:

Most of Asus' smartphones are powered by Intel Atom processors, with the exceptions of few Padfone series and some ZenFone 2 models that use Qualcomm Snapdragon.

2-in-1s

Laptops

Tablets

Asus MeMO Pad road show

Two generations of the Nexus 7, manufactured for and branded as Google, was announced on 27 June 2012 for release in July 2012.[32] On July 24, 2013, Asus announced a successor to the Google Nexus 7. Two days later, it was released.[33] Asus has also been working with Microsoft in developing Windows 8 convertible tablets.[34] In 2013, Asus revealed an Android-based tablet computer that, when attached to a keyboard, becomes a Windows 8 device, which it called the Transformer Book Trio.[35] The keyboard can be attached to a third party monitor, creating a desktop-like experience. Asus is also known for the following tablet computer lines:

Desktop & All-in-One PCs

Tower PCs
Mini PCs
Chrome Devices
All-in-One PCs

Eee line

Since its launch in October 2007, the Eee PC netbook has garnered numerous awards, including Forbes Asia’s Product of the Year,[37] Stuff Magazine’s Gadget of the Year and Computer of the Year,[38] 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 subsequently added several products to its Eee lineup, including:

On 6 March 2009, Asus debuted its Eee Box B202, which PCMag saw as "the desktop equivalent of the ASUS EeePC", (the "Asus Eee Box" computer line is later in 2010 renamed to "ASUS EeeBox PC").[40]

Essentio Series

Asus N55 S Package

Essentio is a line of desktop PCs. As of December 2011 the line consisted of the CG Series (designed for gaming), the CM series (for entertainment and home use) and the CS and CP slimline series.[41]

Digital media receivers

Asus sells digital media receivers under the name ASUS O!Play.[42]

GPS devices

Asus produces the R700T GPS device, which incorporates Traffic Message Channel.[43]

Republic of Gamers (ROG)

Republic of Gamers is a brand used by Asus since 2006, encompassing a range of computer hardware, personal computers, peripherals, and accessories oriented primarily toward PC gaming. The line includes both desktops and high-spec laptops such as the Asus ROG Crosshair V Formula-Z Motherboard or the Asus ROG G751JY-DH71 Laptop.

Sound cards

Asus released its first sound card, the Xonar DX, in February 2008. The Xonar DX was able to emulate the EAX 5.0 effects through the ASUS GX software while also supporting Open AL and DTS-connect.[44] In July 2008 ASUS launched the Xonar D1, which offered largely similar features to the Xonar DX but connected to the motherboard through the PCI interface instead of the PCI-E x1 connection of the Xonar DX.[45] ASUS then released the Xonar HDAV 1.3, which was the first solution enabling loss-less HD audio bit streaming to AV receivers.[46]

In May 2009, Asus launched the Essence ST sound card, targeted at high-end audiophiles, and featuring 124db SNR rating and precision audio clock tuning.[47] In the same month, Asus refreshed the HDAV family by releasing the HDAV 1.3 slim, a card targeted for HTPC users offering similar functionality to HDAV 1.3 but in a smaller form.[48] During Computex 2010, ASUS introduced its Xonar Xense, an audio bundle composed of the Xense sound card and a special edition of the Sennheiser PC350 headset.[49][50] In August 2010, ASUS released the Xonar DG sound card targeted at budget buyers and offering 5.1 surround sound support, 105db SNR rating, support for Dolby headphone and GX 2.5 support for emulating EAX 5.0 technology.[51][52]

ASUS VivoPC line

Asus entered the box-PC market with the Vivo PC line in November 2013.[53] ASUS VivoPCs come without a pre-installed Windows operating system.

On 23 Oct 2013 ASUS launched two models of VivoPCs in India.[54] VivoPC was initially announced with Intel Celeron processor equipped VM40B model. But in India, the company released VivoPC along with a new model called VC60 which is equipped by Intel Core series processors.

Portable monitors

In 2013, Asus released the MB168B, a USB 3.0-powered, portable external monitor. The base model shipped with a resolution of 1366x768, while the MB168B+ had a resolution of 1920x1080.[55] At the time of its release, the MB168B+ was the only 1080p portable monitor. According to Asus, it is the "world’s slimmest and lightest USB monitor".[55]

Environmental record

Green ASUS

In 2000, Asus launched Green ASUS,[56] a company-wide sustainable computing initiative overseen by a steering committee led by Jonney Shih, the Chairman of Asus. According to the company, Asus pursues green policies in "Design, Procurement, Manufacturing, and Marketing."[57]

Recognition

In 2006, Asus obtained IECQ (IEC Quality Assessment System for Electronic Components) HSPM (Hazardous Substance Process Management) certification for its headquarters and for all of its manufacturing sites.[58]

In 2007, Oekom Research, an independent research institute specialising in corporate responsibility assessment, recognized Asus as a "highly environmental friendly company" in the "Computers, Peripherals and Office Electronics Industry".[59]

In October 2008, Asus received 11 Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool (EPEAT) Gold Awards for its products,[60] including four of its N-Series notebooks, namely the N10, N20, N50 and N80. In the following month, it received EU Flower certification for the same N-Series notebooks at an award ceremony held in Prague.[59] In December 2008, Det Norske Veritas conferred the world’s first EuP (Energy-using Product) certification for portable notebooks on these machines.[59]

Recycling campaign

In April 2008, Asus launched its "PC Recycling for a Brighter Future"[61][62] program in collaboration with Intel and with Tsann Kuen Enterprise Co. The program collected more than 1,200 desktop computers, notebooks and CRT/LCD monitors, refurbished them and donated them to 122 elementary and junior high schools, five aboriginal communities and the Tzu Chi Stem Cell Center.

Unlicensed software and dissemination of confidential data

In September 2008, PC Pro discovered through a reader that Asus had accidentally shipped laptops that contained cracked and unlicensed software.[63] Both physical machines and recovery CDs contained confidential documents from Microsoft and other organizations, internal Asus documents, and sensitive personal information including CVs.

At the time, an Asus spokesperson promised an investigation at "quite a high level", but declined to comment on how the files got on the machines and recovery media.[64] It was demonstrated that an unattended installation of Windows Vista could accidentally copy material from a flash drive with a parameter in the "unattend.xml" file on the personal flash drive being used to script the installation.[65][66]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 "Annual Report 2013". Asus. Retrieved 30 September 2015.
  2. ↑ "Forbes Global 2000 #1131: ASUSTeK Computer". Fortune. April 2016. Retrieved 14 July 2012.
  3. ↑ "Gartner Says Worldwide PC Shipments Declined 8.3 Percent in Fourth Quarter of 2015". www.gartner.com. Retrieved 2016-02-17.
  4. ↑ "2008 Top Taiwan Global Brands announced today(2008/10/23)". Brandingtaiwan.org. 23 October 2008. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
  5. ↑ "How to pronounce ASUS". video. Engadget. Retrieved 3 March 2011.
  6. ↑ "Origin of the Name 'ASUS'". ASUS website. ASUS. Retrieved 4 August 2009. ASUS comes from the last four letters of PegASUS, the winged horse in Greek mythology that represents the inspiration of art and learning. However it is not pronounced like the "ASUS" in PegASUS,
  7. ↑ "Russian-language interview with Alexander Kim (Алекс Ким), October 2003". Hw.by. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
  8. ↑ Maks, Kurmaz. "Интервью с ASUS" [Interview with ASUS]. –Ά (in Russian). Retrieved 4 August 2009. Компания ASUS образовалась в 1989 году [...] Ее название образовано от английского слова "PegASUS" [...] Была взята только часть названия – "ASUS", чтобы быть в начале списка по алфавиту. [Translation: The ASUS company formed in 1989 ... Its name is formed from the English word "PegASUS" ... [We] took only part of the name: "ASUS", in order to be at the beginning of alphabetical order.]
  9. ↑ Former and current tagline/slogan of ASUS.
  10. ↑ https://www.engadget.com/2015/08/16/asus-chairman-jonney-shih-interview/
  11. ↑ "Company Profile". Official website. ASUS. 2009.
  12. ↑ Invisible Gold in Asia: Creating Wealth Through Intellectual Property, page 143, by David Llewelyn. Marshall Cavendish International Asia Pte Ltd. 28 February 2011. Retrieved 22 December 2013.
  13. ↑ "ASUS Company Information < By Mast Business". publishesiness.com. 3 January 2008. Retrieved 8 December 2015.
  14. ↑ "ASUS PhysX Card Ready". Vr-zone.com. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
  15. ↑ "ASUS enters LCD TV market with TLW32001 32" LCD TV". Newlaunches.com. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
  16. ↑ "ASUS VX1 Lamborghini". PC Mag. 11 August 2006. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  17. ↑ John, Walko (9 March 2006). "Microsoft Unfolds Origami, The 'On The Go' PC". InformationWeek. Retrieved 16 November 2009. Microsoft (NSDQ: MSFT) says three companies have built working models – Samsung, ASUS, and Founder, China’s second largest PC maker. The Samsung and ASUS devices are expected to be in stores by April, and the Founder device in June.
  18. ↑ "ASUSTeK and Gigabyte form joint venture". Digitimes.com. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
  19. ↑ "ASUS BD-ROM/DVD writer drive". 2007. Archived from the original on 13 September 2007. Retrieved 9 September 2007.
  20. ↑ "ASUS splits into three". PC Pro. 4 January 2008. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  21. ↑ "ASUS pins future on small and inexpensive laptop". USA Today. 16 May 2008. Retrieved 1 April 2013.
  22. ↑ Kubicki, Kristopher (3 January 2008). "New ASUS Corporate Structure Zeroes Employee Pensions". DailyTech. Retrieved 28 March 2009. Under the new corporate entity, ASUS employees were paid out all pension plans regardless of maturity as of 1 January 2008. All employees at the two new companies must start their tenure from scratch.
  23. ↑ "Open Handset Alliance". Open Handset Alliance. 9 December 2008. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
  24. ↑ http://www.pegatroncorp.com/download/FinancialStatements_2010_1Q_eng.pdf
  25. 1 2 "ASUStek, Garmin ending co-branding". The Taipei Times. 27 October 2010. Retrieved 13 May 2012.
  26. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 27 February 2011. Retrieved 2014-08-16.
  27. ↑ Spurbeck, Jared (3 January 2013). "Acer and ASUS to Stop Making Netbooks". Yahoo!. Archived from the original on 7 January 2013. Retrieved 13 January 2013.
  28. ↑ Condliffe, Jeff (2 January 2013). "ASUS and Acer: The Netbook Is Dead". Gizmodo. Retrieved 13 February 2013.
  29. ↑ "2007 Corporate Sustainability Report." ASUS. 10 of 67. Retrieved on 15 March 2010. "ASUS has its headquarters located in No. 15, Li-Te Rd., Beitou, Taipei 11259, Taiwan.".
  30. ↑ Gaurav Dutt (6 June 2015). "Asus will launch three variants of Zenfone 2". All Gadget Buzz. ASUS declared to also launch a cheap variant along with two major versions as they're going to do at Malasyian launch on April 21.
  31. ↑ "ZenFone 2E : US AT&T Exclusive", asus.com
  32. ↑ Ciaccia, Chris (27 June 2012). "Google Launches Nexus 7 Tablet". The Street.com. Retrieved 15 July 2012.
  33. ↑ "Google Nexus 7 (2013) specs". Phone Arena. Phone Arena. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  34. ↑ "Dell and ASUS debut inspired Windows 8 convertible tablets". Forbes. 18 April 2012. Retrieved 14 June 2013.
  35. ↑ Latest gadgets from Nokia, ASUS and Samsung. 3 News NZ. 30 September 2013.
  36. ↑ https://www.asus.com/us/Tablets/ZenPad-Products/
  37. ↑ Buley, Taylor (8 December 2008). "Product of the Year: ASUSTeK's Eee PC". Forbes. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
  38. ↑ "Stuff Gadget Awards – Eee PC wins gadget of the year". Stuff.tv. Archived from the original on 29 June 2010. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
  39. ↑ Annie Huang, Associated Press. "Taiwan's ASUSTek launches Android-powered tablet." 25 March 2011.
  40. ↑ Santo Domingo, Joel (2 June 2008). "ASUS Debuts Desktop-Equivalent Eee PC". PCMag. Archived from the original on 24 April 2009. Retrieved 3 April 2009. At the Computex show on Monday in Taipei, Taiwan, ASUS introduced a slew of products, including the Eee Box B202. The Eee Box is the desktop equivalent of the ASUS EeePC.
  41. ↑ "ASUSTek Computer Inc. – Desktop". ASUS. Retrieved 1 December 2011.
  42. ↑ "Search > O!Play". ASUSTeK Computer Inc. Retrieved 20 May 2012.
  43. ↑ Mobilewhack.com on 11 April 2008 3:05 am (11 April 2008). "ASUS R700t TMC GPS Device : Specs, reviews and prices". Mobilewhack.com. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
  44. ↑ ASUS, Official Website (28 February 2008). "Crystal Clear Audio Quality for Home Entertainment and Gaming". Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  45. ↑ ASUS, Official Website (27 July 2008). "ASUS Unveils Xonar D1 7.1 Audio Card: The High-fidelity PCI Variant to the Successful Xonar DX". Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  46. ↑ ASUS, Official Website (31 December 2008). "ASUS Reveals Xonar HDAV1.3 Series Sound Cards with World's First Dolby TrueHD Bit-Stream Feature for the New Blu-ray Era". Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  47. ↑ ASUS, Official Website (15 May 2009). "Breaking the Boundaries in Sound Quality". Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  48. ↑ ASUS, Official Website (18 May 2009). "ASUS Unveils New Xonar HDAV Slim Sound Card". Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  49. ↑ ASUS, Official Websiteq. "Xonar Xense". Xonar Xense. ASUS. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  50. ↑ ASUS, Official Website (June 2010). "ASUS Covers all the Multimedia Bases at Computex 2010". Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  51. ↑ ASUS, Official Website (August 2010). "ASUS Unveils the Xonar DG Gaming Sound Card". Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  52. ↑ ASUS, Official Website. "Xonar DG Hear all, dominate all!". Xonar DG Hear all, dominate all!. ASUS. Retrieved 3 October 2011.
  53. ↑ "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 7 October 2013. Retrieved 2016-02-13.
  54. ↑ "ASUS launches VivoPC mini desktop in India – starts at Rs. 20,550". Evyush.com. 23 October 2013.
  55. 1 2 https://www.asus.com/us/Monitors/MB168BPlus/
  56. ↑ "Green ASUS". Green ASUS. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
  57. ↑ "ASUS Conferred World's First EuP Certification for Portable Notebooks for Its N Series Notebooks". ASUS. 2008. Archived from the original on 20 February 2009. Retrieved 28 March 2009. Green ASUS – which was initiated in 2000, pursues the "Four Green Home Runs" in the design and production of notebooks, namely: Design, Procurement, Manufacturing, and Service and Marketing.
  58. ↑ "GreenASUS Management System". Official website. ASUSTeK Computer Inc. 2009. Archived from the original on 3 August 2008. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  59. 1 2 3 "GreenASUS News and Awards". Official website. ASUSTeK Computer Inc. 2009. Archived from the original on 3 August 2008. Retrieved 27 November 2009.
  60. ↑ Epeat.net
  61. ↑ "ASUS, Intel Team up for PC Recycling in Taiwan". Pcworld.about.com. 22 April 2008. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
  62. ↑ "ASUS Recycle". Asus. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
  63. ↑ Collins, Barry (17 September 2008). "ASUS ships software cracker on recovery DVD". PC Pro. Dennis Publishing. Archived from the original on 27 June 2009. Retrieved 21 June 2009. The startling discovery was made by a PC Pro reader whose antivirus software was triggered by a key cracker for the WinRAR compression software, which was located on the recovery DVD for his ASUS laptop.
  64. ↑ "News: ASUS ships software cracker on recovery DVD". PC Pro. 17 September 2008. Retrieved 1 June 2010.
  65. ↑ Cargile, Anthony (20 September 2008). "ASUS Recovery DVD scandal: How it happened". The Coffee Desk. Archived from the original on 8 January 2011. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  66. ↑ Lord, Timothy (22 September 2008). "How ASUS Recovery Disks Ended Up Carrying Software Cracks". Slashdot. Geeknet, Inc. Retrieved 18 February 2011.

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