As more and more consumers, demand next generation features such as mobility and light weight – Asus is focusing on delivering these and much more with the help of its notebook offerings and its Gaming laptops.
Arnold Su, National Sales Manager – ASUS Consumer PC, System Business Group – India speaks with Zia Askari from ChannelDrive.in about the company’s current focus and its future plans.
What are the key priorities for Asus consumer PC segment today?
Considering the dominant preferences of the consumers, who demand features like mobility, light weight and a device that enables them to work on the go; we are focusing on our Notebook segment and our Gaming laptops.
We are offering Notebooks in various categories, from premium to economical notebooks. We are also strengthening our gaming laptop segment with our ROG series and its various editions. Right now, we are focusing our gaming lineup and mainstream products.
What is your go to market strategy for India..?
ASUS as a brand is at a good position in the market in India at present. However, considering the fierce competition; we are aggressively marketing the brand across all the verticals. At present, our focus is gaining in-depth market understanding, on the basis of which we are developing marketing strategies and plans for the India market along with implementation support.
We adopt a national and regional distribution approach so that we reach out to every nook and corner of the country. We are identifying the best distribution channels and have organized various seminars and dealer meets for our distribution partners while acknowledging the top performing partners.
We are also swiftly expanding our exclusive stores in every corner of the country; and have recently launched two exclusive showrooms in Tezpur and Dibrugarh in Assam.In conclusion, we plan to tap the market with our competitive prices, improvise on our availability strategies and adopt tactical marketing approaches to spread brand awareness.
How do you look at the fast emergence of new age channels such as LFRs and online commerce sites..?
Each and every mode that enables us to reach out to our end-consumers easily is a viable channel for us. Depending upon the reputation of the emerging new age channels, we assess the opportunity of selling through it and are not hesitant to exploring any of the channels, be it LFRs or online commerce sites. The emergence of such new age channels always helps to reach out directly to the end consumers across nation.
How do you ensure that you maintain synergy between various channels opportunities available today?
Depending upon the geographic location and the consumer behavior of a given location, we decide, which channel to invest upon to maximize availability, along with the traditional channel partners and our exclusive stores.
What are some of the challenges that you see in front of the consumer PC business..?
PC sales has been facing challenges for the past few years due to the increasing pressure from devices such as smartphones, tablets and the competition is only expected to intensify amongst these devices. The challenge is tobring the sales of all these devices to attain a state of equilibrium.
What kind of growth are you expecting from India where is this growth going to come from..?
There is a tremendous growth opportunity in India, especially from the Tier2/3 markets. These markets are untapped and thus have great potential. Also, in terms of enterprise computing, we see lot of opportunity from SME’s, Educational institutes and the government.
