Asus wants to compete with Apple

http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/06/09/asustek-vows-to-out-apple-apple/

Looks like they are aiming at Apple. I just hope that their prices don't climb to a "premium" level in the process. I ended up getting my G50 because it was the price/performance ratio was unbeatable.

 

So they are going to start selling overpriced trendy crap?

 

I'd love for them to make a near exact clone of the MacBook Pro (but with newer, better specs), and sell it for less than the "Apple tax". The U-series comes damn close.

 

Asus certainly has the means to compete (they've got some damn good products out)........but as far as marketing/hype goes, I'm not sure anyone can reach Apple's level

 

yea the u series has definitely got the looks, still no word on pricing though so i'm scared.

 

ASUS would build some laptops aimed at this, not them all. The G series wouldnt be anywhere near these plans. Also note to actually beat apple you have to be priced lower than them....

 

Apple's prices are already ridiculous to start, shouldn't be a problem. This news has also been engadget and gizmodo for 3-4 days now.

 

Looks interesting, but no one can really compete with apple.
Do you buy an Xbox to play a Mario title or the latest installment of the Zelda series? No you don't, you buy the platform that supports your software. Unless Apple starts allowing 3rd parties to install OSX there will never be a competitor.

PS: Apple will never allow 3rd parties to install OSX.

 

You can easily throw a mac osx onto a pc. Google it. I have friend's who have been doing this for years. The only thing setting them aside is the iphone and unibody design.(heat cage)

 

Yes, but Asus is talking about your "average" consumer.
Building hackinstosh is not only against apple's EULA but too much work for your average consumer. Not to mention all the problems and pitfalls that you can have installing, updating and maintaing a hackintosh and of course you will also have no support from Apple.

There will never be a competitor.

 

Yaddam, Apple is also trying to recruit PC users, so not all buyers already own apple software. Apple expects people who use pc only software to jump to their platform so why cant ASUS expect the same?

Apple offers more than software and these are some of the cutting edge innovations ASUS wants to bring to the table.

Article makes a interesting analysis of their competition with ACER. As you may know acer secured Ferrari licensing, which was slapped on some the cruddiest built machines ever (Guy in the local paper sent his in for 17 warranty repairs so far got his replaced and had to send that one in a couple of times so far as well). ASUS sells a lamborghini branded laptop to compete with them.

 

Simple, the end user experience is so vastly different.
It will be up to the consumer to decide.

Not to mention Asus has an image issue in the US market place. They are little known among average consumers and their most successful laptop is a cheap netbook.

 

Ive only known about them since 2003 when i bought an HP that had an ASUStek motherboard in it.

Best buy has shown no problem in moving their inventory of ASUS laptops. While that doesnt mean their doing well it does mean they have a product people want somewhere.

Ive known Acer since 1994 and have owned 2 (a 486 and pentium 1) and now I know them as one of the most unreliable laptop suppliers in the world.

ASUS sells parts to plenty of companies same way MSI got out there, I have a desktop with an MSI motherboard in it as well. Still plenty of people that cant identify MSI either.

I think ASUS needs to move some of their other products to the market, monitors and phones. Like samsung gained my respect overtime, they didnt stick to one type of product.

 

There's no doubt about their presence in the OEM world and I can see them gaining market share in various sectors but, they still can't compete with Apple. Many have tried, all have failed.

For the record, I own an ASUS N80.

 

The people who buy Apple for OSX or for cult trendiness will never be converted. I'd much rather they focus on the the people who buy them for the special features their products seem to have. Apple had backlit keyboards and all aluminum chassis before anyone else. The MagSafe power adapter is a great idea - "average joe" lives in an environment where a cord could be swatted at any moment. Apple's laptops are thin and stylish, and sometimes have access to technology earlier than others (the 9400m chipset, for instance). These are the things that Asus can focus on, as well as price, to compete with Apple.

1. Equal or better aesthetics and build quality
2. Better technology and performance
3. Better pricing.

 

For the record id own a unibody MBP if i could afford it. I have no allegiance to either side. I would be lacking in my software library for the mac. But having it would also reduce my need for linux operating systems by my side.

Apple's computer advertising is marketed to PC users, not apple fans. You will note they really dont ever advertise a product on tv (Until the iPhone came out, but different discussion unless ASUS wants to push their phones into that market as well), if you own an apple product you obviously know they exist.

In my opinion where ASUS can compete is the "would be an Apple owner" market, giving PC users choices that would allow them to avoid the switch. Sure the operating systems and customer service is a big part of the apple experience. But magnetic power cords, gesture, i no longer keep up so insert other mac stuff here.... can be added to pc's though doing the exact same stuff runs into patent problems.

Apple not only offers a different user experience in OSX but they offer unique hardware, though the specs dont make us PC users jump for joy (unless we are pricing up a workstation). Apple had drop sensors in their notebooks before most pc manufacturers did, especially in the middle price range.

 

We all have good points; What it comes it comes down to is the consumer and good marketing.

Only time will tell.

 

It comes down to how well the consumers know their computers.
Most technical consumers who are well educated about computers go for windows. Its mostly the consumers who are brain washed by the marketing of apple and the " OMG IT LOOKS SO NICE I WANT IT!" attitude that are flushed into MACS. PC has grown bigger by the number of manufacturers who use windows OS's. Then again I really don't think Apple wanted to sign over their OS to other manufacturer's to build upon. They wanted to be unique and I HATE IT! lol

 

Rider it wasnt until high school that I used a PC in school. Elementry had the mandatory Apple II's and then the power mac's later on, middle school had power mac's as well.

If you dont have a computer at home and went to a school that used apple hardware and software its likley that child might have interest from that alone.

 

A big part of this is what you grew up using. I've always used Windows, for that reason, switching across now makes no sense. I've tried using a Mac, didn't like the OS, didn't feel natural to me. I have a friend who has only ever used Apple's, hence he doesn't like Windows.

As much as I like the Apple design philosophy, they are too expensive for what you get. In the past, when I've actually had a look at a Mac, I've always walked away after seeing the price for the spec you get.

At the end of the day, there will always be the Apple niche market. They have it nailed, and will continue to do well out of it.

I've always wanted other manufacturers like Asus to make machines like the Mac's. Problem with this is the price starts to go up, then you have the problem of people just going with the Mac instead. I still own an Asus W3J, very well made laptop, only the keyboard lets it down a bit. Asus, have dropped the ball a bit since then, but the new U series should bring them back up to standard.

Im hoping Windows 7 will change the situation. Should be a good looking, non-resource intensive, easy to use OS. I hope a fair bit of marketing will be done by Microsoft to get it out to the average consumer. This OS coupled with better laptop build quality in the U series, and Timeline series etc. might bring alot of people back to Windows machines.

Just my thoughts! Oh and I love the great warranty with Asus laptops.

 

It does look like the gap is closing between Asus an Apple in terms of aesthetic appeal (eg the new U series). However, like most other PC notebook manufactures, PCs will tend to beat macs spec-wise.

The only advantage I see of having a mac is the convenience of having an Apple store in every major city in the US, hence making customer/technical service extremely convenient. For some people, macs may be the only choice for them since there are a few very good mac-only software which the windows simply can't offer.

 

Lmao my elementary school used ty compals? I think those not sur ebut damn were they dinos. Plus if you gain education in computer hardware as you grow up you would notice both pc and mac use almost same hardware, well at least now they do. I know back in the day apple tried using there own cpus.

 

Well for Asus to compete with Apple's level, they'll need to rely heavily on marketing schemes. Apple arguably has some of the heaviest marketing of any laptop company out there >.>

In terms of the actual machine, Asus is IMO pretty close to Apple in terms of specs & aesthetics.

The main differences will be price & OS more or less.

 

Wait wut..... lol The original prototype was built with off the shelf parts from a store called Halted in california they used a 6502, they later moved onto Motorolla 68k processor and then after that IBM approached apple to use the PowerPC processor through a joint venture with Motorolla, note that both companies made power pc processor for other platforms like game cube, xbox 360 and IBm used the archetecutre for one of the PS3 cell cores.

After that they abandoned IBM and switched to intel, they have been quoted as saying they always kept an x86 build of Mac OS just incase.

Never do i remember them ever using their own cpu.

 

I mixed up ideas lol I'm not intelligent with mac but yea the first chip was an mos 6502.
Supposedly there trying to design there own chips in partner with amd. Idk how that's going.

 

I think ASUS should stick to where they are at the moment, as long as it isn't damaging to their company. The article makes a good point about how ASUS spends most of their money on engineering instead of marketing and I believe it is for this very reason ASUS, along with Lenovo are on the top of the list for product reliability. If ASUS was to spend nearly as much as Apple on advertising their products, we might end up with an ASUS computer with the reliability of an Acer machine (or HP as they’re even below Acer in reliability, but better in terms of service) in order to accommodate for the costs.

 

While there is a lot of hype around Apple products, I have to admit that their designs are pretty nice and the UI has always been incredibly intuitive and easy to use. But I'm sticking to PCs because there are endless customization options and because the games are on PC.

 

Im happy ASUS are up for a challange, and i think ASUS are capable of being at apples level, but they will have to think outside the box a fair bit in order to get up there, i think the main reason will be the price to performance ratio though, theres no doubt about it that Asus has great prices for near enough all its lappys, customer support from what i hear is great, ASUS wouldn't really need the biggest marketing campaign to circulate though, if the machine is good enough it should travel faaast

 

LOL no. They actually said the exact opposite, if you read the article. They said that instead of spending so much on marketing, like Apple, they'd spend money on engineering and hope that people notice. Like Toyota. GM, Chrysler and Ford always spent a lot o marketing. Toyota engineering was much better though, and their advertising was lame. They only spent lots of marketing dollars on Scion because it was new and they were trying to get into kids' heads.

We'll see though if it pays off for ASUS. It could take them a decade, as strong as Apple's hold is...