Asus To Continue Netbook Focus As Tablets Grow

Taiwan’s Asustek Computer Inc will stick to its core netbook PC products, it said, even as the rising popularity of tablet PCs sparked by Apple Inc’s iPad threatens to cut into netbook sales. The company expects sales of netbooks will be flat this year, but revenue will rise as it brings more high-end products to the market.

Like most of its rivals, however, it is also joining the tablet market with its own model. “Different clients have different demand, we still see potential in the netbook market,” said Kevin Lin, General Manager, Asustek, at a netbook launch event.

Asustek targets sales of 6 million netbooks this year, giving it around a 20 percent global market share. It said last month it shipped 6 million units in 2010, and expects a double-digit market share for its non-Apple platform tablet PC.

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“This is the right strategy for Asustek because the netbook is a sizeable market and it is not going to disappear,” said Tracy Tsai, Analyst, Gartner Research. She said many consumers own more than two computer devices nowadays and Asustek could not forgo the netbook market for tablets. Asustek said it will launch its first tablet model for Taiwan, using Google’s Android 3.0 platform, as early as March. The company has already started selling larger-sized tablet PCs in the U.S. and Europe.