Gaming craze drives sales of notebooks
Asus to cash in with ultra-thin devices
While the personal computer market has reached saturation point, ultra-thin and gaming notebooks are dominating the local market.
The trend in Thailand is comparable with the global market, said Jeff Lo, Southeast Asia head of Asustek Computer Inc, at the launch of the ultra-thin ZenBook in Bangkok yesterday.
“In an optimistic case, the personal computer market in Thailand will be around 2.4 million units, growing only 5% in 2017 because the market is pretty much mature,” he said. However, the outlook is much brighter for gaming and ultra-thin notebook segments, which he said are expected to see double-digit growth.
Despite its saturated computer market, Thailand remains a strategic market for Asus because of its high potential in the gaming market, the largest one in AsiaPacific, in addition to China, Japan and Korea. The gaming market here is even larger than in Indonesia where the population is much higher. “A proliferation of broadband network and popularity of e-Sport are key factors of the computer market growth”.
Asus was one of the first computer makers to introduce sub-brand ROG (Republic of Gamers) gaming computers a few years ago, and the company will launch the new ROG product lines in the near future. Mr Lo said that in a mature market, a machine’s features are the primary factor users are concerned about rather than price. They need more specialised notebook computer with functions that serve their specific needs and reflect their lifestyle.
“This has shifted the overall market to a high-performance graphic gaming notebook and ultra-thin notebook,” he said, adding that the optical disc drive, 14-inch display notebook will become more welcome as it best serves users with mobility and productivity.
Overall specifications required by users include that the notebooks are compact, sleek, have long battery life and extensible accessories. The design of the device is also a key factor in their decision-making, so devices with fourspeaker surround sound, 14-inch display and a 19.95mm aluminium thickness are among the bestsellers. This trend is reflected in the worldwide market.
Citing global research firms GfK and Future Source Data, Mr Lo said the gaming notebook market sales per week grew from 3.2 million units in 2015 to 5.1 million units in 2016, and sales of ultra-thin devices increased from 3.3 million units to 4.7 million units, while flip notebook sales rose from 4.6 million units to 6.1 million units.
In the meantime, the sales per week of small screen display notebooks in the worldwide market declined from 4 million to 3.4 million units; the conventional notebook market also saw a decline from 54 million to 46 million units, detachable notebook sales declined from 10 million to 8.6 million units, and Apple’s sales fell from 5.8 million to 4.9 million units.
To capitalise on the growing market, Asus will focus on gaming and ultrathin notebooks.
Mr Lo said that Asus was the first vendor to introduce ultra-thin machines priced below 25,000 baht, which became mainstream notebooks. He said Asus is also trying to increase its footprint in the corporate market with AsusPro, the world’s lightest 14-inch business notebook, made with durable material and priced at 49,990 baht.
In the overall local laptop market so far this year, the corporate segment accounted for 15%, while the consumer segment gained the biggest share with 85%. Growth in the corporate market, however, tends to be higher than the consumer market’s owing to regular replacement.