W6 and U5 will NOT be in the NA market... plus other news

I already told you that the U5a and W6a wouldn't be coming to this market as a 915 chipset model. Well, the Napa platform models have also been ruled out as of this morning.

On a side note - Asus said the model letter for the napa models is apparently "j" ..... so, we'll be looking at refreshed models in the spring of say... ie: W5j.

I'll keep you updated.

 

Well i guess i wont be buying the w6 then. to bad wanted one.

 

Not surprised...



The M9v also looks like it aint coming over, if it is actually even going to be released.

 

**** I wanted a U5!

 

***** U2!?

 

Doesnt it seem like NA is excluded from most models.

 

They don't like us white people.

 

That's quite unnecessary

We do get more barebones here, so...well....fair trade. Maybe.

 

This is not the kind of comments that this forum needs to see. Consider this your first warning.
a

 

OOO Nooooo! I want that W6. :-( Who's their head of marketing department?

 

Asus said and I'm going to need to agree after having used it...... but the touchpad on both units are flimsy and the reason they don't want them is simply because of that. At some point Taiwan might change them and the US will have a change of heart, but it doesn't seem likely.

 

Just wanted to make a quick update......

"F" will indicate integrated graphics on the napa platform

"J" will be for dedicated.

The first two models that will be refreshed towards the end of February will be the W5f and V6j.

 

Any news an an M5j??

 

Europe and Australia are just as Caucasian as NA... if not more; they still get all the good stuff

Oh well... at least we have the W3 and V6 still

 

All of the current M Series are most likely not coming back at all. This includes the following series:

M3 (Z61)/ M5 (Z33)/ M6 (Z70)

All of those chassis' have been around over 2 years at this point and are likely canidates for retirement (if I could put it that way). So, no a new M5 is very unlikely and the chance of it coming back with dedicated graphics (as the "j" you suggested) would be right around zero as they haven't been able to fit dedicated graphics into the M5 yet and it's been out for two years........ there's just no room in the system at all. That's why the recent upgrade to 512mb onboard was a HUGE upgrade for the Z33ae.

In terms of why we're not getting the U5 and W6 -- the touchpad's integrity is a huge deal because it represents an actual physical flaw that Asus wouldn't want to deal with in the US. You can only imagine what problems stupid little issues cause... something like this would be a huge problem.

 

How about a W3 refresh?

 

So basically, if I've been wanting a z70va for a while, it would be wise to get one before they're no longer available?

Also, I think the "they don't like us white people" comment was a joke.

 

That was not a joke! Okay maybe it was But maybe there's some truth to Asus not giving much of a **** about the NA market. Something to ponder perhaps?

 

Asus' US office is completely in control of their own destiny as they are the ones who decides what comes here and they are the ones who place the orders. What comes here is based on previous sales, market research, current user feedback, and feedback from dealers in terms of what we want to see and what we think will sell, etc. So basically..... the comments about Asus not caring about this market are unfounded and ridiculous... so they can stop being made. We ALL play a part in what comes here and in the end it should be for the better of the consumer, the product, and the future of the brand... All things which are really good for everyone.

The Z70va can be bought now through whoever still has stock.... we've run out and removed it from our site because the ETA as of this afternoon to Asus is 1/20/06 - basically makes it impossible for anyone to get another prior to the napa release. However, the Z70va is going to continue to sell through the end of March as there are not going to be any 15.4" napa models available with dedicated graphics till around then. Right now, just so you all know, the first custom "built-on" models which will be focused on February are going to be 14" widescreen's similiar to the Z63a, but more plain looking. So the Z71v and Z70va will continue to be a focus till the spring as far as the larger screen models go.

 

I completely disagree Justin. The way to sell computers is getting them into Best Buy and in front of people. Asus certainly has the resources, they just need better marketing initiatives. If they REALLY wanted a piece of the NA market they could have it.

 

From a business point of view, it is possible that Asus does not want to have direct competition with their own corporate customers in the mass market, which are some of the well-known brands that Asus has OEM contracts with. Asus may not want to jeopardize the corporate relationships. My humble guess only.

 

They do, and will do that, with their ENSEMBLE units, I've seen a few at The Source by Circuit City(used to be RadioShack), as well as Office Depot. Itr's only going to be time...

However, It coould be just me, but notice that when such notebooks are mass marketed and into such B&M stores, their quality goes down a bit. When they did not, and sold through resellers, etc. the quality, etc. seemed much better.

 

That's a good point about not wanting to jeapordize existing contracts. I disagree that quality goes down inevitably, just take a look at Apple. Quality is a result of the manufacturers' engineering and standards, and most of the time the cost is reflective of that. Since Asus is spinning out their notebook division and trying to become a recognizable brand, perhaps we'll see some marketing.

 

Apple I know, they've been near the top for, since, forever?

What I mean is , for example, Gateway(They used to be an awesome phone order company - however, right now they arent bad neither, ever since rebranding Arima/Samsung but the past year before that) and Toshiba(Satellites used to be everywhere, I swear!)

Just somethings i kinda noticed...could be just coincidence though

 

Well everyone in the world can disagree with me and it doesn't make me wrong. Asus very well may end up going "mainstream" next year with a contract with a big box store, but they've been putting it off for years for very good reasons.

1. Two places they inquired about selling their notebooks and pocket pcs wanted eliminate companies like us, and make more profit by having Asus set higher MSRP's so they could make a greater percentage, but also making other dealers adhere to that higher price so that one place would be "best place to buy".... but actually be making more money than we ever did.

2. Asus has a legal obligation to a handful of dealers including our company which would regulate how they do something like this.

3. Asus isn't looking to sell out. Basically, their current custom line can't be built to order by these big box companies and their never going to be able to offer the services their long time dealers have and will continue to offer. If and I do mean IF they end up going into a store like this, we've been assured that a "lower end" ensemble would be offered that wouldn't compete with the higher end models we sell. It'll be almost like this:

W3v - high end ensemble sold only by select dealers
Z63a - custom system built and serviced by select dealers
W3a - lower end ensemble sold only by big box companies.....

Basically....... this would get their name out there to the masses, but their configuration would be more of a "mainstream" configuration - like integrated graphics, 4200rpm hard drives, lower end cpus, 1 year warranties... more DIRECT competition with what they currently sell. Anyone who wanted a custom version would have to find someone like us. The brushed aluminum and dedicated graphics and longer warranty would be through places like us.

The only thing is that my comment about what comes in here has nothing to do with where they sell it...... Asus' niche is still big enough to support whatever they want to do and the US office basically has it written in stone that quality of build and materials as well as performance are going to stay their main goals. They do have some legal issues with OEM's they design and build for, but the seperating of the "ensemble notebook" division into it's own entity is supposed to take care of all of that. The only problem there is that the people who design some of the notebooks for other OEM's aren't going to be able to share design ideas with what would turn into "Asus" laptops.... In my opinion, that's what'll suck the most, but going big box actually isn't the answer and we've had discussions over this for at least the last three years and it hasn't seemed "right" for Asus to this point.

 

What about the M7 (Z71)? That's been out less than a year. Is that likely to be gone as well, or are there possibilities for it to get the "j" treatment?

 

The M7 (Z71) is actually likely to be refreshed, but that would go along with my other comments in various other posts stating that any chassis that was brand new as of 2005 have a 99% chance of being refreshed, while others that have been out between a year and three are most likely doomed.

Here is the catch though.... as I thought the Z71 was the ugliest most "boring" model of the year, it is most like what is in store for the "built-on" line for 2006...... The models will have innovations like the light senors and webcams and so on... but as far as head turners - I think not. Those will be reserved for the Ensemble line.

 

sheesh, you need to chill out or get a sense of humor, mod.

 

Pyro be careful! He's a MODERATOR and I've been WARNED!

 

I think you hit the nail on the head.

I don't have any specific knowledge of the Asus aituation, but for the last 13 years I have worked for a company with a parallel situation in the bicycle industry. We are a Taiwanese company that is the largest maker of frames (the motherboard of bikes, if you will), and we have struggled for years with our desire to promote our own brands and but yet not offend our OE customers.

Its a fine line that any OEM must deal with if they want to have their own brands. If your core OE customers are the vast majority of your business, you can't afford to tick them off.