In PC market, we don't see many brands thriving consumers demand as there very small number of PC brands who cater to Indian market. Few of them has been dominating the market since long. But in recent times, we have seen high end PCs have helped many brands to establish themselves in the market. Asus, one of the leading brands is now doing extremely well in the Indian market. Their product plan has worked in their favour in last few years. They have been able to succeed in achieving excellent growth with the help of innovative and high-quality product. With large product offerings, brand aims to grab significant market share by end of this year. Arnold Su, PC & ROG Head, Asus, shared his overall channel plans exclusively with DT which will help them achieving this target by this year.
DT: How has been the year 2018 you?
Mr. Arnold: The year has been a successful ride for us. The highlights of the year would include ASUS strengthening its last-mile presence, with the launch of ASUS Exclusive Stories in Vadodara and Delhi. In addition to store launches, we have also been able to bring revolutionary new products in the Indian market, such as ASUS Zenbooks – UX580, UX331 and UX391, ASUS Vivobook – X507, X510 and Asus FX504 this year. With the new product launches, we have also unveiled ground-breaking technology like the ScreenPad of the future, RangeBoost tech ensuring zero blind spots in Wi-Fi connectivity, Desktop-inspired keyboard with OverStroke technology, amongst others.
DT: Please brief about your channel ecosystem in India. How are you currently working with your partners to strengthen your market position?
Mr. Arnold: Our channel comprises primarily of three networks, the distribution network, ROG Stores and ASUS exclusive stores. Currently, we have a strong presence across the nation with 100 exclusive partner stores and 6,000 distributors selling our laptops. These stores are present across the metropolis, tier 2 segment and beyond. We also have 3 fully-dedicated ROG Stores, attracting the herds of passionate and uncompromising gamers. We have observed an influx in demand from the tier 2 and 3 cities. Cities like Pune, Bhubaneshwar and Kochi are driving great business for us. While we shall continue to add more stores, we maintain last-mile connect with our customers through the same.
DT: What is your overall roadmap to escalate your growth further in 2019? On what products/solutions you will be focusing in 2019?
Mr. Arnold: In the near future, we aim to on increasing our market share, while also adding to our existing network. When we speak of the overall laptop space, ASUS presently has a 9-10% claim on the market share and we further aim to increase it to 15% by next year. The hike would take us a notch higher in the status quo, placing us at the fourth position in the market. In addition, when we particularly talk about the gaming laptop space, we are currently ranked number 2 with a 22% share and are aiming at the top slot with 30% share, by mid next year. While that is the market share, we also plan to increase the number of customer touch-points. By the middle of next year, we are intent on including 100 more exclusive stores, at the same time growing our distributors to 10,000 during the same period. Furthermore, we will also add 7 new ROG (Republic of Gamers) stores to take the total number of such stores to 10 by the end of 2019.
DT: How do you see the launch of new F570 gaming laptop and the thinner and lighter VivoBook 15 (X505) laptop in India?
Mr. Arnold: We are excited to unveil the Gaming F570 and VivoBook 15 (X505) specially designed for our Indian consumers. Both the laptops feature the latest AMD Ryzen 5 processor and Radeon Vega graphics, ensuring effortless productivity, multitasking, and entertainment. Pioneering the thin and light segment we are the only brand with models catering to this segment with Ryzen processor. We're positive that the rising brigade of India's ambitious users demanding more from their laptops would appreciate the latest offering.
