Asus-Branded Notebooks to Be Made by Asusalpha

Asustek plans to separate its own-brand laptop computer business under its wholly-owned subsidiary Asusalpha Computer, Digi Times reports according to industry sources.

Taiwan-based laptop makers, feel that such a move would weaken Asusalpha’s competitiveness in the OEM market.

“Though Dell has placed orders for around one million notebooks with Asustek, the company is demanding that Asustek complete the spinoff of its own-brand notebook unit by the first quarter of 2008 or else future orders from the company may be in question, according to sources at notebook makers. Coupled with the fact that Apple’s orders for MacBooks end in November of this year and that future shipments to Toshiba will be limited in amount, Asusalpha might lose competitiveness in the notebook OEM market without Dell’s support”, noted the sources at notebook makers.

Sales of Asustek’s own-brand notebooks improved greatly in the past two years, causing the company’s OEM clients, like Sony and Apple, to switch their notebook orders to Foxconn Electronics and Quanta Computer, Digi Times reports.

It is said that the company will keep the motherboard and game console business under Asustek.

DigiTimes