Taipei, Sept. 6, 2007 (CENS)--ASUSTeK Computer Inc. one of the world`s leading suppliers of notebook PCs with its own ASUS brand, aims to squeeze into the world`s big five brands in next three years, and into top three brands in next six years, according to Jerry Shen, chief executive officer of the company.

To achieve the objective, ASUSTeK has been active to seek to acquire mainly IC design and web design companies, and, meanwhile, to integrate its production resources with other suppliers in the line, according to Shen.

ASUSTeK will have built its own brand for exactly 10 years in 2007, with ASUS ranking No. 8 brand of notebook PCs in global market share at the moment. However, Shen projected that the company, which usually sees explosive increase in sales in the second half of a year, is very likely to challenge annual shipment of more than four million notebook PCs for this year, hence will move up two notches to the No. 6 position.

In the goal to become the world`s top three brands in six years, ASUSTeK plans to still concentrate on middle- and high-end products for consistent growth in sales of notebook PCs, attempting to squeeze into top five brands in the first three year as its first stage.

And then, in another three years, or the second stage, Shen noted, the company will venture into providing low-end models for a further increase sales volume. However, it will be challenging for the company to control costs and operations at that time, which will depend on accumulation of experience.

At present, ASUSTeK focuses promotion in the European and Pacific Asian markets, with the first place in Taiwan, fifth in Europe and third in China, and therefore has yet to be affected too much by the sub-prime-mortgage crisis occurring in the U.S., according to Shen. But, he emphasized that the company will have to explore the U.S. market ultimately, when it becomes world`s big three brands, and is afoot to introduce more models into the market starting this year, in addition to existing models for gaming.

On the other hand, Sharon Su, chief investment officer of ASUSTeK, is to take charge of production, conducting investment and acquisition of other companies to integrate production resources, according to Shen.

ASUSTeK scored combined revenue of NT$226 billion for the first quarter of this year, with sales of own-branded notebook PCs accounting for 23%, and the corresponding figure of NT$137 billion for the second quarter, dropping 40% from a quarter earlier, due to declining shipment of Play Station 3 consoles.

Nevertheless, thanks to an increasing proportion of own-branded products in shipment, the company smoothly drove up its gross profit rate to 11% in the second quarter, higher than 8% posted in the first quarter.

ASUSTeK projects its combined revenue for the third quarter to grow by 20% from a quarter earlier, with a sales boom in the second half of the year, and annual revenue of US$23 billion, or NT$720-750 billion, for this year. In other words, its own-branded notebook PCs will play a key part, infusing the company with momentum for sales growth in the future.

(by Steve Chuang)