Shake up at Asus...... again

Ok, I just wanted to give you guys a bit of information so you can better understand where I'm coming from..... it also may be news to some of the dealers who frequent the site who certainly need to know this information.

Basically, Asus' Ensemble Product Manager left the company.... again. This person was only in that position for about two months after the last guy left. Now, this PM was the PM for wireless and pocket pc stuff for that last year and half prior..... so that makes this news even more surprising to me. Along with his departure, the person who helped out most of the channel dealers also left (he was actually the guy who posted over here a few times before I could convince him he'd get asked questions that Asus wouldn't let him answer)...... Anyway..... that means for most of you, including the dealers on this site..... information passed out in the last week has to be questioned..... My information on this subject comes from my friend over there who was above both of these guys... He didn't have any information on the next shipment of ensembles but said he'd look into them for me.

... the biggest concern to me and the forum is probably who this affects the release of the W7j and how the refresh of the W3j and A6jc may change.... It's my understanding that the A6jc and W3j refresh models were set in stone and ordered a while back.... the W7j supposedly is the same story, but the price which was given, but unconfirmed, is really unconfirmed at this point. The price Asus listed was $1,499 (supposedly from the PM), and then it was suggested by a couple of other people that the price should be confirmed before anyone moved on mentioning it it...... one of those people who suggested this was one of the people who left the company.... So, even though Asus suggested to price it up with the W5 and W3 - even though their list showed $1,499...... it's honestly anyone's guess and that price of $1,799 may be more correct....... I'm not sure if there was any type of covert things going on to screw with people... like giving us an unreal price for the W7....... So, just wanted to give you the heads up that certain things are just uncertain at this moment and no one can actually tell you otherwise...

.. what's the saying? Hope for the best but expect the worst? I don't know.. you get my point though I'm sure.

 

two months? Holy cow, either you guys are giving the PMs too much of a hard time or Asus isn't paying their employees enough or providing free coffee. That's bad news. There's nothing more valuable than maintaining steady contacts in a position such as that. McDonald's has better turnover rates than that.

 

And I was *this* close to pre-odering a w7j.

Thanks for the heads-up, have to see what happens in the next few weeks.

 

Well, I guess they're training someone entirely new right now and my old buddy is going to be covering for the time being..... he was once the mobile PM, then he had them seperate the wireles and pocket pcs from the notebooks..... then a year ago he had them seperaten the built-on's from the ensembles....... just because of the load he was dealing with... so for right now he's going to take care of both notebook departments till things get worked out.

To be honest - Asus became a pain to work for a little more than two years ago...... When the notebooks started to really move, idiots that worked over there started to want input in what happened...... and before basically no one wanted a hand in anything...... then a lot of people who had bad ideas wanted a say and when that happens, the good ideas get pushed to the side....... basically at that point all those who were really good for the company wanted to leave..... We'll see how things shake up over the next 9 months, but it should be good because a lot of those people who can't handle it are leaving.....

 

They're still coming and the only thing that can change is that they'd be cheaper.... this wasn't to turn anyone off the W7, but if it does, it does...... but it shouldn't.

 

Well I hope they get their S together because Asus makes a fine product and these types of blunders only get in the way.

 

Thanks Justin for the heads up! I just hope that these moves will benefit us, both customers and resellers, in the long run.

 

Asus needs me to right the ship...if only they knew it.

 

Good post Justin.... Thanks for the info.

 

Does Asus have an obligation to keep the price at 1499? I think they do because all of us were told 1499 and no indication was given that it might be higher and now it will probably be 300 more than that. I mean when I buy something and a sign says one price and when I go to the cashier and it comes to a higher price, they always honor the price the sign said. Not to put down the company but its not our fault that a guy leaving the company decided to tell everyone a false price.

 

Im not taking sides but Dan does have a point here. We were told 1499 for 7 days with no indication of a higher price. It would be extremely unethical to say "oh well too bad we have to put on 300 even though we told you 1499."

 

You guys have a point. I'm not sure they are "obligated" but it certainly wouldn't be a very wise, consumer oriented, or popular move.

Just for reference, the w3j price got changed (higher) after they initially announced it. However, there was also an accompanying upgrade in hardware and it wasn't 300 dollars.

 

I dont want to take sides here Justin but the others are right. You said 1499 here and on your site and never hinted for a while that it could potentially increase. Even an increase of less than 300 would be unethical.

 

Thanks for the update, Justin, i wanna take that position once the next guy leaves hehe. ohwell, hope things will stay good.

As for the W7J me and my friends were shocked at such a low price for such a high quality machine, look at that Sony SZ...and compare it too W7J, how can the W7J with all those nice materials be cheaper than that SZ...

That's my take, but hey if the price really turns out to be 1500$ USD, buy all means that's kool.

As for pricing i just use it as a starting point and i know from there it will go up or down. Same with the specs, you never know what will happen.

But remember what happened to the W2jb, it got a lower res screen, and then asus gave out a rebate, so if Asus feels bad or something about this, or feel obligated to give a rebate for increase customer satisfaction then they will.

All in all, yeah I hope for the best for ASUS and the release of the W7J being really close to 1500, but you never.

That's my 2 cents.

Thanks,

MysticGolem

 

Remember asus never told anyone here it was 1499 it was on a sheet that was sent to dealers, and we all know those things are never accurate. so while you could tech yell at justin its not his fault. and asus never said anything i mean nothing they say would matter until its released anyways. so its really tough luck if its that high. noone has any reason to honor anything. thats why preorder are never 100 percent. i want it to be 1499 also but if it isnt oh well what can we do.

 

The notebook was never for sale. You could not walk into a store in the US and purchase it. There was no sign stating the w7j was $1499. There was no official public document or advertisement that said w7j would be $1499. Asus has no obligation to sell the notebook at $1499.


Please people, look up the word "hearsay".

 

Please let me apoligize, but we never set up an order page or took a single order at $1,499... The advanced order went up this morning for $1,799 for a few good reasons. First and foremost, Asus doesn't owe us anything but an explanation on preliminary pricing for a model which was ordered from Taiwan, but still isn't here....... they certainly don't owe any of you anything, so if that was a typo, they'll apologize to us, but it doesn't change the product. The product sits between the W5 and W3... both which sit at $1,799........ the W7 is closer to the W3 in configuration, but certainly out duels the W5 in close to everything.... If the W7 turns out to be $1,499, then that's what every customer is going to get.

The Sony SZ (13.3" / 128mb NVIDIA 7400 / webcam) series, when custom configured to match the W7j's specs (after all, this is really the only other notebook on the market that comes close - and surprise, surprise... Asus makes both of them).... but when configured the same exact way, you're looking a little more than $1,900....

Now, the W5f has a $200 rebate on it right now and it's my understanding that rebate will be removed and the everyday price lowered to $1,599 after the rebate period (the rebates are to help dealers who already have stock at the higher price). So that will be priced permanently at $1,599 instead of having it’s configuration updated. That leaves a $200 gap between that and the W3j.... so I'd put more money on a price point of $1,699 than any other price in the world...... even though it could be lower or higher..... that just seems right.. I know how Asus prices their products. Now, that would be $200 cheaper than the Sony, which is about 12% lower than the Sony, which is honestly about right... at $1,499, that's closer to 28% lower and frankly I believe there is a realistic chance of my winning the lottery this week than there is in Asus being able to price that almost 30% lower than the exact same product they make for Sony.... But there is a chance...

However, since this pricing was never able to be confirmed and it was the last communication sent out by a product manager who was leaving the company.... it means nothing. I was the smart one who didn't waste the time and put the W7 up for the unconfirmed price which is frankly and simply an unrealistic number by many accounts. Even the cheapest of the cheapskates out there would put a number higher than $1,499 on this computer if someone asked them what it would be likely to sell for, or worse yet, what they’d be willing to pay for it. Asus may be able to do it, but if it's too good to be true, it probably is. My fault, if I can find one, would be that I gave forum members up to date information - even though I prefaced it as unbelievable at the time and as "needs to be confirmed".... what can I say... shoot me?

I can say I'm going to give the things away and you have the right to complain when I don't, but there’s nothing unethical about it. Unethical would be to sell a product at one price and then tell a customer it’s going to cost more now, and they can’t cancel their order… tough cookies.

The bottom line is, Asus hasn't even considered announcing this product in the US yet and if the interim PM decided tomorrow that the W7 has no place in the US, he could cancel the order and doesn't owe any of us anything.... because it's a figment of our imagination until Asus has it in stock and we pay for it and in turn a customer has made a purchase through us and we've charged them for it... To those of you calling this unethical need to look up the definition... but while you're at it, give me a word for helping customers guarantee themselves one of the first of a product in the country and giving them a realistic (although possibly high based on other information) price - with the guarantee to adjust it when the final price is absolutely confirmed?

... That would be a good, ethical (and I might add sexy) businessman who is completely aware of how his personal actions and reputation affects the reputation of the company he's built and the customers who rely on them~

 

If this laptop is more than 1500 then I have to say goodbye asus...

 

That is the truth (not sure about the sexy part) about Justin being ethical with me and many, many others. The constant updates alone shows he does as much as he can on his end to keep us informed of what changes occur to the product that he has no control over. I for one appreciate the ethical business.

 

^I'm going to have to second Kreidel on this one. As Justin says Asus owes us and you nothing. They would give us the impression that they did if they were good businessmen and women but thats neither here nor there.

Unethical would be for Justin to lock you in at the new price based on your commitments to the old price. Honestly, that isn't the Justin I know and have purchased from. He would never do that to you. He will be more than fair and forthcoming with any developments regarding the release of this machine if his practices are to be anything comparable to his practices these last few months waiting for the w3j.

 

I would not be surprised if the price was indeed higher. $1499 was the 'MSRP' price that was sent, and as many mentioned, not etched in stone. It was not the fault of any of the dealers, just, yet another, messup at ASUS North America....again They need to hire me LOL!

If you refuse to buy it for anything more then, perhaps $1799, then go ahead. There's nothing really else to look at besides the SZ, which is more expensive. Oh, there is that Dell.....

 

Sigh.... well, as I said in the other thread on this, I'm delighted that Justin is able to provide us the best information that he has when he has it... and didn't take any orders at a price that he wasn't sure he could meet or beat. Too bad the discussion didn't end there. Trying to get in to what the item is worth is a whole different matter.

Last I checked the comparably configured SZ was $1782 at Techonweb. I agree with Justin that Asus doesn't have the brand equity that Sony has, fair or not, and will have to come in below the street price. You can do the math if you think 12% is a reasonable discount against a slightly different product... one that takes 2GB rather than 1.5 and is market and field tested.

My advice is
1. Ease up on Justin (but we can help with shopping the brands)... he's doing all we can hope for by providing current info as he has it, with alerts.
2. Direct your most righteous froth at Asus ... they clearly don't have their act together in world-wide product introduction strategy and communication.
3. If Asus torques your jaw too much, buy a different brand from your favorite reputable dealer (Justin, P1, etc).
4. If the price doesn't cut it for you (too close to the street price of an SZ or if $500 is too much to pay to lose a pound and gain 128 dedicated graphics over a macbook) don't buy it... Asus WILL hear that.

 

... thanks for some common sense commentary... but actually, go to the custom configuration page at sonystyle and configure the system with exactly what the W7j will have and I believe it'll come to $1,909 plus tax... but there again, you have a point... that isn't even an issue because regardless of Asus' brand equity, those Asus fanatics who would buy the W7, would buy the W7 at a fair price.. I would agree that even just the graphics card and slightly bigger screen would attract more people to the W3 over the W7 - as we saw the case with the W3 competing with the Sony SZ series this year and the S series last year.... the fact is, it doesn't cost much less, if any at all, to make a system with a 13.3" screen than it does a 14".... and sometimes fitting components into a certain size space....... So really, a 128mb nvidia 7400 really has little to do with the pricing compared to a 256mb ati x1600 in terms of comparing the W7 and W3...... The point remains the same, that it should be agreed that the W3 is underpriced for what it is and certainly what the refresh model will be in a few weeks...... and yet at $1,499, I would strongly predict the W7j outselling the record sales of the W3j over only a few weeks ago... To do that, something really needs to stand out and be amazing. In this case, the amazing part would bet the price.

... The fact of the matter is we make the same regardless of what the price and if it's lower, it's going to cost me less to grab one for myself.... so I could really care less either way, but it'll be my new notebook unless the S6 turns out to fit in my glovebox..... Right now, only those who think the W7 is worth $1,799 are in line for the notebook which makes the crowd a bit small, but they're not only guarenteed they are going to pay whatever the final price turns out to be, but they're also using an advanced order coupon which others who wait and see, simply won't. Personally, it let's us know who is serious about the purchase and who will honestly be grateful if and when the price is actually lower than they made the advanced order for...

 

What's up,

That about sums it up!
Jake

 

So now the issue of whether the W7J is coming to NA is in doubt? I thought there was an early July release date set.

 

sarcasm alert Drat! Are you guys saying this computer isn't $14.99? Anything over 15 bucks is going to kill my budget.