Asus

ASUSTeK Computer Incorporated

Type	Public (LSE: ASKD; TSE: 2357)
Founded	April 2, 1989
Headquarters	Taipei, Taiwan
Area served	Global
Key people	Jonney Shih, Chairman; Jerry Shen, CEO; TH Tung, VP and founder; Ted Hsu, VP and founder
Industry	Computer hardware Electronics
Products	Motherboards graphics cards notebooks PDAs others
Revenue	▲ US$22.9 billion (2008 [1])
Net income	▲US$0.84 billion (2008 [1])
Employees	100,000 (2008 [1])
Website	www.asus.com

ASUSTeK Computer Incorporated (ASUS) (traditional Chinese: 華碩電腦股份有限公司; pinyin: Huáshuo Diànnaǒ Gufen Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī), a Taiwan-based multinational company, produces motherboards, graphics cards, sound cards, optical drives, PDAs, computer monitors, notebook computers, servers, networking products, mobile phones, computer cases, computer components, and computer cooling systems. Commonly called by its brand name ASUS (usually pronounced /ɑːˈsuːs/, or /ˈeɪsəs/ in English-speaking countries) the company has listed on both the London Stock Exchange (LSE: ASKD) and the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE: 2357). As of 20 June 2009 (2009 -06-20)^[update] 34.3% of PCs sold in 2008 worldwide came with an ASUS motherboard.^[2] The company's 2008 revenues reached US$22.9 billion.^[1]

ASUS appears in BusinessWeek’s "InfoTech 100" and "Asia’s Top 10 IT Companies" rankings. Wall Street Journal Asia ranks it number one in quality and service, and it leads the IT Hardware category of the 2008 Taiwan Top 10 Global Brands survey with a total brand value of US$1.324 billion.^[3]

ASUS also produces components for other manufacturers such as:

• Apple Inc. (iPod, iPod Shuffle, MacBook)
• Alienware
• Falcon Northwest
• Palm, Inc.
• HP
• Sony Computer Entertainment (Playstation 3)

Corporate information

History

TH Tung, Ted Hsu, Wayne Hsieh, and MT Liao^{[citation needed]} founded ASUS in 1989 in Taipei, Taiwan — all four founders worked as computer engineers for Acer. The company explains the name ASUS as originating from Pegasus, the winged horse of Greek mythology.^[4][5] The new organization used only the last four letters of the word in order to give the resulting name a high position in alphabetical listings.^[6]

In 2008, shipments from ASUS, ECS, Gigabyte, and MSI totaled 104.86 million units. ASUS led with 52 million units, followed by ECS with 20 million, MSI with 18 million, and Gigabyte with 16.6 million.^{[citation needed]}

Relationship with Intel

In the early 2000s, Taiwan-based motherboard manufacturers had not yet established their leading positions in the computer-hardware business. Intel would supply any new processors to more established companies like IBM first, and the Taiwanese companies would have to wait for approximately six months after IBM received their engineering prototypes. ^[7]

When Intel released its 486 as engineering samples, an ASUS chief engineer by the name of Joseph Uzelac decided to design its own 486 motherboard without having a 486-processor engineering sample on site, using only the technical details published by Intel and the experience he had gained while making the 386-compatible motherboards. When ASUS finalized its 486 motherboard prototype, they took it to Intel's base in Taiwan for testing. Unsurprisingly, they received no formal greeting when they arrived. It turned out that Intel's own 486 motherboard prototype had encountered design flaws, and Intel's engineers were rectifying it. The ASUS founders exercised their experience with the 486 and had a look at Intel's malfunctioning motherboard. Their solution worked, to the Intel engineers' surprise. Intel then tested the ASUS prototype, which functioned perfectly. This marked the beginning of an informal relationship between the two companies – ASUS as of 2009^[update] receives Intel engineering samples ahead of its competitors.^[7]

ASUS has become one of the main supporters of Intel's Common Building Block initiatives.

Corporate restructuring

In January 2007 ASUS started restructuring its operations.^[8] The company will split into three distinct operational units: ASUS, Pegatron and Unihan.

The ASUS brand will apply solely to first-party branded computers. Pegatron will handle OEM manufacturing of motherboards and components. Unihan will focus on non-PC manufacturing such as cases and molding.

In the process of restructuring, the highly criticized pension-plan restructuring effectively zeroed out the existing pension balances. The company paid out all contributions previously made by employees.^[9]

Open Handset Alliance

On 9 December 2008, the Open Handset Alliance announced that ASUSTek Computer Inc. had become one of 14 new members of the organization. These "new members will either deploy compatible Android devices, contribute significant code to the Android Open Source Project, or support the ecosystem through products and services that will accelerate the availability of Android-based devices."^[10]

Timeline

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• 2002: Forms subsidiary ASRock.
• September/October 2003: debuts in the cellphone market with the J100 model.^[11]
• September 2005: releases the first PhysX accelerator card.^[12]
• December 2005: enters the LCD TV market with the TLW32001 model, initially only available in the Taiwan market.^[13]
• January 2006: ASUS announces that it will cooperate with Lamborghini to develop its VX series.^{[14][dead link]}
• March 9 2006: ASUS announced as one of the producers of the first Microsoft Origami models, together with Samsung and Founder. Samsung and ASUS devices expected by April 2006.^[15]
• August 8 2006: announces joint venture with Gigabyte Technology.^[16]
• June 5 2007: ASUS announced the Eee PC at COMPUTEX Taipei 2007.
• September 9, 2007: ASUS starts supporting Blu-Ray by announcing the release of a BD-ROM/DVD writer PC drive, BC-1205PT.^[17] The release of several Blu-Ray based notebooks follows.
• October 31 2007: launches a PDA/smartphone range in the UK market.
• January 3 2008: ASUS formally splits into three companies: ASUSTeK, Pegatron and Unihan.^{[18][unreliable source?]}
• August 12 2008: ASUS produces a new motherboard (ZT23) capable of clocking a processing speed of 120GHz, a record.
• August 22 2008: Details of the N10 leaked online.^[19]

Manufacturing facilities and service centers

As of 2009^[update] ASUS has manufacturing facilities in:

• Taiwan (Taipei, Lujhu, Nankan, Gueishan)
• Mainland China (Suzhou)
• Mexico (Juarez)
• Czech Republic (Ostrava)

Asus claims a monthly production capacity of two million motherboards and 150,000 notebook computers.^{[20][verification needed]}

The ASUS Hi-Tech Park, located in Suzhou, China, covers 540,000 square meters, roughly the size of 82 soccer fields.

ASUS operates 50 service sites in 32 countries and has over 400 service partners worldwide. It provides support in 37 languages.

Sub-brands

Eee

Since its launch in October 2007, the Eee PC netbook has garnered numerous awards, including Forbes Asia’s Product of the Year^[21], Stuff Magazine’s Gadget of the Year and Computer of the Year,^[22] NBC.com’s Best Travel Gadget, Computer Shopper's Best Netbook of 2008, PC Pro's Hardware of the Year, PC World's Best Netbook, and DIME magazine’s 2008 Trend Award Winner.

ASUS has since added several products to its Eee lineup, including Eee Box, a compact nettop, Eee Top, an all-in-one touchscreen computer housed in an LCD monitor enclosure, and Eee Stick, a plug-and-play wireless controller for the PC platform that translates users’ physical hand motions into corresponding movements onscreen.

On March 6, 2009, Asus debuted its Eee Box B202, which PCMag saw as "the desktop equivalent of the Asus EeePC".^[23] With its price range between US$269 and US$299, this desktop competes directly with the Apple Mac Mini.^[24]

Corporate responsibility

Green ASUS

In 2000 Asus officially launched Green ASUS,^[25] a company-wide sustainable computing initiative overseen by a steering committee led by Jonney Shih, the Chairman of ASUSTek Computer Inc. Green ASUS pursues what the company calls the "Four Green Home Runs", namely: "Green Design, Green Procurement, Green Manufacturing, and Green Service and Marketing".^[26]

Green ASUS measures

• As of 2009^[update] Green ASUS restricts 37 hazardous substances, 31 more than the 6 stipulated by the European Union RoHS.
• ASUS designs its notebooks to meet Energy Star standards. As of 2009^[update] over 50 ASUS notebooks have Energy Star certification.
• In 2005, ASUS launched Taiwan’s first GPMS (Green Product Management System) information-technology platform.
• In 2006, ASUS became the first computer manufacturer in Taiwan to develop an easy-to-reuse and easy-to-recycle end-of-life "green design" system.
• In September 2006, ASUS initiated a free take-back program for all ASUS-manufactured products in the USA.

Recognition

In 2006 ASUS obtained IECQ (IEC Quality Assessment System for Electronic Components) HSPM (Hazardous Substance Process Management) certification for its headquarters and for all of its manufacturing sites.

In 2007 oekom research AG (an independent research institute specializing in corporate responsibility assessment^{[citation needed]}) recognized ASUS as a "highly environmental friendly company" in the "Computers and Peripherals Industry".^{[citation needed]}

In October 2008, ASUS received 11 EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) Gold Awards for its products,^[27] including four of its N-Series notebooks, namely the N10, N20, N50 and N80. In the following month, it received EU Flower certification for the same N-Series notebooks at an award ceremony held in Prague.^{[citation needed]} In December 2008, Det Norske Veritas conferred the world’s first EuP (Energy-using Product) certification for portable notebooks on these machines.^{[citation needed]}

Recycling campaign

In April 2008, ASUS launched its "PC Recycling for a Brighter Future"^[28][29] program in collaboration with Intel and Tsann Kuen Enterprise. This program collected more than 1,200 desktop computers, notebooks and CRT/LCD monitors, refurbished them and donated them to 122 elementary and junior high schools, five aboriginal communities and the Tzu Chi Stem Cell Center.

Pirated software and dissemination of confidential data

This section has been nominated to be checked for its neutrality. Discussion of this nomination can be found on the talk page. (July 2009)

In September 2008, PC Pro discovered through a reader^[30] that ASUS had shipped laptops that contained cracked and pirated software. Both physical machines and recovery CDs contained confidential documents from Microsoft and other organizations, internal ASUS documents, and sensitive personal information including CVs.

At the time, an ASUS spokesperson promised an investigation at "quite a high level", but declined to comment on how the files got on the machines and recovery media.^[31]

The blogosphere provides details of how an unattended installation of Windows Vista accidentally copied material from a flash drive due to a parameter in the "unattend.xml" file on the personal flash drive used to script the installation.^[32][33]

See also

• List of companies of Taiwan
• ASUS Eee PC
• ASUS Media Bus
• Asus routers

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: ASUS

Companies portal

• Official website
• Linux on ASUS Laptops (user experiences)
• Asus Wl 500 premium Open WRT Howto: WiFi router for the Huawei E220
• ASUS FTP in Taiwan - for the most up-to-date drivers. (Asus does not always update its subsidiary sites (such as the site in Germany) in a timely fashion, so check here)
• ASUS Forum Troubleshooting and Reviews
• ASUS launches ‘ASUS CEO Program’ in five pioneer universities
• Open firmware forum for ASUS Routers with oleg firmware
• Pegatron Official Website
• ASUS P565 Review: Fastest Mobile Phone in the World!
• ASUS N81Vp Gaming Notebook Review