ASUS Aims for Top-3 Spot in Smartwatch Market

Asustek Computer Inc. of Taiwan (ASUS brand) has been quietly developing its presence in the smartwatch business, aiming to become one of the top-three brands in the market.

Industry sources said that ASUS conducted an intensive market survey in 2014 in preparation for the launch of its second smartwatch model, the Zenwatch 2, this year. The Taiwanese firm aims to ship 500,000 smartwatches this year. Though the volume is modest, the company hopes the devices will pave the way for further expansion in the Internet of Things (IoT) market.

ASUS showcased two versions of its second-generation smartwatch at this year's IFA, a global trade show for consumer electronics and home appliances held in Berlin, Germany on September 4-9. ASUS chairman Jonney Shih said at the show that his company's Zenwatch 2 will hit the market in Europe as early as in October at a suggested retail prices starting from US$170 and US$190.

ASUS announced its Zenwatch 2 at the 2015 Computex Taipei (Taipei International Information Technology Show) held in early June. The new smartwatch is powered by the Snapdragon 400 processor and comes with 512MB of RAM, 4GB of storage, and a new battery pack with capacity under two days of stand-by mode. The specifications seem competitive to the Moto 360 announced by Lenovo (priced for US$290 and US$350).

ASUS CEO Jerry Shen said earlier that his company aims to sell the Zenwatch through boutiques and department stores. He also assigned Marcel Campos, marketing manager of ASUS Brazil, to copy his successful user-experience know-how in marketing the new smartwatch model.

Campos said ASUS is paying greater attention to the user experience in the smartwatch market. In addition to the e-commerce sales channels, he added, ASUS aims to get more image-enhancing channels such as boutique shops and department stores. A smartwatch is not only a watch, Campos explained. ASUS' higher-end smartwatch is positioned as a finely crafted artistic piece to appeal to a wider user group and improve the brand image.

In Brazil, ASUS has set up user-experience points at the country's top-three department-store chains, including C&A, Rchlo, and Lojas Renner.

ASUS' first-generation Zenwatch has is available in Taiwan, Germany, the U.S., the U.K., and Australia among other countries. However, the first-generation model was not introduced into the big Chinese market since Google's services are banned by the Chinese government. However, according to a report by U.S. tech-news website Information, Google is expected to soon provide limited services in China, such as Google Play and the Android Wear-version of Google Translate. Shen said previously to the Chinese media that ASUS hopes that it can launch the Zenwatch 2 in China soon.