 "We are closely watching Android One: Jerry Shen")
One of the top five personal computer makers in the world, Asus recently made its foray into the smartphone segment with the ZenFone. In an interaction, Jerry Shen, global CEO of the $14-billion company, tells Surabhi Agarwal about why he thinks India will be among its top three markets in the world, and how the launch of Android’s base version does not perturb him. The overall user experience is what matters, and his company is offering Apple’s quality at the price of local vendors, he says. Shen visits India once every year but says he will come more often now after the company’s smartphone foray. Edited excerpts:
What is Asus’ overall sense of the Indian market?
This market is so important that it is next only to China. And the market for smartphone is huge as a lot of people will move from feature phones to smartphones. I also expect a lot of growth for the tablets and the phablets as well as for PCs. At Asus, we are moving from a PC company to a mobile company. But India will be a three-in-one market for us — PCs, tablets as well as mobile phones. And it will be the number three market in the world after the US and China.
It’s not difficult. The most difficult market is China as there are so many companies – not only brands but also white box makers. But Asus offers premium luxury products at an affordable price. In fact, the bar I set for my designers and engineers is to match Apple in terms of user experience. We tested this product (ZenFone) in only six countries and everywhere it has been a huge success. In Taiwan, before the launch of the ZenFone, our market share was only 2 per cent. Now, it has gone up to 30 per cent in just two months and Samsung is just 20 per cent. We have tried to cater to all segments of the market from Rs 5,000 to 20,000. We plan to have one to two refreshes every year.
Google is launching the base version of Android? Will it increase competition from local players?
I think that Android One can help some but cannot help others. It will help a lot of local players to offer higher quality software. But, it will not help improve hardware, camera or the touch. Android One will be able to address issues such as software consistency and user experience, but it will not be able to impact the total experience of the product. We are watching it closely but we should be okay.
What is Asus’ overall sense of the Indian market?
This market is so important that it is next only to China. And the market for smartphone is huge as a lot of people will move from feature phones to smartphones. I also expect a lot of growth for the tablets and the phablets as well as for PCs. At Asus, we are moving from a PC company to a mobile company. But India will be a three-in-one market for us — PCs, tablets as well as mobile phones. And it will be the number three market in the world after the US and China.
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Don’t you think you are late to enter the smartphone market in India? Will you find it difficult to find a foothold?
It’s not difficult. The most difficult market is China as there are so many companies – not only brands but also white box makers. But Asus offers premium luxury products at an affordable price. In fact, the bar I set for my designers and engineers is to match Apple in terms of user experience. We tested this product (ZenFone) in only six countries and everywhere it has been a huge success. In Taiwan, before the launch of the ZenFone, our market share was only 2 per cent. Now, it has gone up to 30 per cent in just two months and Samsung is just 20 per cent. We have tried to cater to all segments of the market from Rs 5,000 to 20,000. We plan to have one to two refreshes every year.
Google is launching the base version of Android? Will it increase competition from local players?
I think that Android One can help some but cannot help others. It will help a lot of local players to offer higher quality software. But, it will not help improve hardware, camera or the touch. Android One will be able to address issues such as software consistency and user experience, but it will not be able to impact the total experience of the product. We are watching it closely but we should be okay.