ASUSTek's Netbook Eee still attracts buyers more than iPad

According to IDG News Service, ASUSTek's pioneering Netbook manufacturer believes that the popularity of the Eee Netbook line will continue to attract buyers rather than devices similar to Apple iPad.

ASUSTek CEO - Jerry Chen spoke at the first quarter investors conference in Taiwan last Friday: " 2 devices serve 2 different market segments. IPad is better with cloud computing while netbooks are better with personal computers, tablets are a cloud computing device and if not for Apple, the market will grow quite slowly . "

He added: Web-based applications for tablet devices like the iPad tend to store data in the cloud while netbook users store apps and data directly to the device. Thereby he believed that there was only a small overlap in function between these two types of devices.

ASUSTek also plans to release the Eee Pad tablet at the 2010 Taiwan Computex electronics show, which will take place on June 1 through June 5. It is known that ASUS only released a few versions and the first generation of Eee Pad will use Microsoft software. However, according to Shen, the release of the Eee Pad may be delayed if the tablet market is not enthusiastic at this time.

ASUSTek's revenue increased by 73% (to 80.08 billion USD) in Q1 compared to 46.21 billion USD in the same period last year. Meanwhile, net profit reached 4.94 billion USD, 10 times higher than the figure of 453.6 million USD last year.

In the first quarter of this year, ASUSTek sold 2.5 million laptops and predicted a 10% increase in shipments in Q2. ASUSTek has also exported 1.6 million Eee computers, but the company said the shipments of popular netbooks will increase by as much as 5% in Q2. This year, the number of Eee laptops and computers shipped will be 18 million, up 50% from last year and better than the target of 16 million.

Besides, CEO Shen also said that the problems of product supply make the company a headache. The cost of some components has increased dramatically and is only limited in the market. Specifically, the price of DRAM increased significantly to ASUSTek's business in the coming time. Meanwhile, the shortage of memory chips and LCD screens is also a problem. ASUSTek intends to sign a contract to ensure a stable supply of DRAM instead of sourcing from the spot market (Spot market).