Asus 2007 models, not as cool as before?

in 2005
the ensembles had the V6 series, the W3 series, the W2 (which is still around), etc

all of which were really sleek, beautiful, and well powered for its day.

the whitebooks, like the Z70 series, the Z33, Z63, etc
were also well powered, and their styling and build were comparable to their Ensemble counterparts!

but does anyone feel that now, some of the replacements of these notebooks are feeling lack luster? the S96 series feels plain, and there aren't too many whitebook models coming out.. from the Dell section, there are now reports of Dell offering cheap inspirons with good video cards (8600 series in the 15.4 model and 8400 in 14.1) models which will appeal to those who are on a budget, they are also taking a bit of styling lessons with their sleek xps m1330.

I really wish Asus maintained the type of line up they had back in 2004-5.

 

Well, they're seperating their lines due to pressure from companies they sell notebooks to such as Dell, HP, Sony, etc.

Their barebones will be seperated into two lines.

VBI/Verified by Intel, this is will be their mainstream line with flexible solutions in various sizes, including the s96s, etc.

Powered by ASUS, their desktop replacement 14"-17" notebooks, so far the c90s is in this category, c91s and z37s in the future potentially.

 

Dell, HP, etc pressured Asus to diverge the lines and screwed us over.

 

what does diverge the lines mean???

 

I have to disagree with you... Look at the v1 and the v2... those are nice notebooks. c90 is a new weird thing, but it still looks very good. There are lower end lines like the F3 and A8 that still are on the same level, or superior than the inspiron line (except the 17'') of course. g2s and g1s are really nice 2, but i personally don't like the "gamer looks" of it.

I think the replacement for the z70va and the w3 is the "V" line, which i think they did a pretty good job.

 

I agree totally. Specifically, Asus is yet to produce a true replacement for the W3.

 

Therefore, we can conclude that Dell & HP are the culprits behind the demise of the next W3J.

Dell/HP BOYCOTT!!!

 

Well, it's business for them, Dell recently ordered ASUS's largest batch of notebooks yet, and they're in no position to do such a thing. They've already, somewhat though, 'split' their barebone and prebuilt lines, though whether or not they'll continue pushing the gaps, we'll have to see about that.

 

I wonder why Asus did not compete against Dell and HP in the US market like Acer did.

 

ASUS manufactures and sells very little notebooks compared to HP/Dell/Acer/SONY. If anything, they sell about 5%-10% of what Dell sells. Their contracts with major brands to make notebooks is where all their profit come from, because just looking at ASUS notebooks, I simply can't see that ASUS is getting much profit from it.

Acer dropped its status in the 90's to be a low-mid end electronics brand, and left their mid higher end electronics to BenQ, their other face. Because Acer did that, they could now mass produce cheaper and inexpensive, though cruddy quality items from desktops, to notebooks to MP3 players. Of course, they also do contract work in their 'other other' face, Wistron. I recall BenQ and Acer seperating recently, but I don't know the details.

 

Up until late 2005/early 2006, the ASUS Ensemble (sold preconfigured, ASUS-branded with ASUS warranties) notebooks and "Built On Asus" white books (sold custom configured, vendor-branded, with vendor warranties) lines used the same chassis.

For instance, the Z63 and the W3V, the M5 and the Z33, etc. They were all the exact same chassis, sold as both Ensembles and Built-On models.

The manufacturers that ASUS acts as an ODM for - Dell, HP, etc - were extremely frustrated that ASUS was beginning to grow this large distribution network of Ensemble and Built-On models, thereby competing with their own customers. They pressured ASUS to separate the whitebook, Built-On part of their business from the ASUS-branded part of the business, so they couldn't compete unfairly.

This split is now complete - the whitebook part of the business is ASMobile now. We are left with a non-descript whitebooks compared to two years ago when the designs were shared.

By forcing ASUS to chop up their notebook buisnesses, Dell, HP, etc successfully eliminated the offering of extremely high-quality, well designed BTO whitebooks like the Z33, Z63, and Z70. I believe that Dell/HP also convinced Intel to play a part in this through the guise of the VBI program, which serves to stifle design creativity in whitebooks by forcing manufacturers to use specific, Intel-approved componants.

 

Dell, HP and IBM have got fleet divisions. And they include fleet numbers in their projections and quarterly totals.
Asus and Sony dont fleet their notebooks and both of them are huge in the Taiwan, China, Japan asian markets. I have a friend in the military that did a tour in Japan and Tawian and tells me Dell notebooks there are like Ford cars. Almost dont exist.
Take the fleet out of those three and the Asus, Sony numbers are higher than you think

 

Good point, though mainly in N.A. where the top 3 are the big sellers, ASUS isn't much here, but certainly a huge threat, so that could be justified. Members have mentioned the popularity of ASUS in various areas such as the UK, however, not as a mid-high end brand, but a low end one with their A and F series.

 

Forgive me for saying this, but, why would you want Asus to become as big as Dell, HP, etc?

I like the fact that it's not as well known because it's happened with nearly everything that once something goes big, it leaves itself open to greater criticism, more monetary-based desicions from the "higher-ups", and soon leading to building inferior products in order to appeal to the masses.

The only one that I can think of that has managed to avoid this would be Apple. I would say that they are popular and hold a great part of profit in the market and they still churn out some of the best stuff out there.

Once again, forgive me if I'm pretty much talking out of my a$$ because I don't really talk much in the first place. I'm more of a reader.

 

From a consumer point of view, it'd potentially become options to check out one in-store or buy one from a store.

From a business point of view, simply put, more profit.

From an ASUS user, it can go both ways. There is no guarantee they'll pull the low end stick(though they have somewhat), but it doesn't look too good.

 

I think the OP has made a pretty valid observation. Everyone is talking about the whitebook portion of ASUS, but what about the drop in sytle on the Ensemble side?

I mean lets face it, there is not one notebook in Asus' current lineup that can compete with the V6Va or the W3J in terms of looks. I think they've really been dropping the ball on the style side of things recently.

 

Though the U1f was pretty nice in terms of design I must add.

 

Agree, the U1f is up there with Sony.

 

I would have to argue that most of Asus profits come from their position as top dog in the mobo and other Desktop components field. Notebooks may contribute heavily, and probably enough to force them to split their lineup, but I believe the drop in design is due to Asus putting more money in R&D (C90, Eee, Wooden Notebooks, XG Station, etc.) this last year than ever before. Also, they stated that their goal was to sell something like 4 million notebooks this year, and aside from the G-series, it seems like they are going with very neutral designs on top of having less money for design to capture the swing consumers in north america who like indiscrete notebooks. However has anyone seen the new W, with the HD DVD drive, that thing is an art piece. It really takes my breath away.

 

How does what's being said here gel with Asus' push to become a more well known brand in the US though (i.e. Best Buy carrying the G1, etc.)?

 

Like I said, North Americans (the mainstream, the ones that don't use this board, and usually not any board) like indiscrete notebooks, Dell, Toshiba, HP, something they can tell apart from others but don't make bold statements. Basically the business crowd. There will always be our niche, who loves a forwardly styled computer with bleeding edge parts, but business wise the demand is for a cookie cutter computer. There is still the G series, the C90, the W2 for us, but the others are tending to the brand comfortability crowd.