Independent Study

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The Computer Business

In 1996, after designing and manufacturing other computer components such as graphic card, sound card and networking products, Jonney Shih, ASUS’s CEO at the time decided to expand into the territory of fully assembled computers. In 1997, Asus released its first self-designed and manufactured laptop computer. Although it was not well received by the market, due to its heaviness and poor exterior design, it still made a profit because of the companies’ advantage in backward integration and controlled production units, setting a record for computer companies that was not able to make a profit only 2 or 3 years after releasing their first product. Two years later, in 1998, it had further strengthened its reputation in the market for high quality and stability by supplying two of its own laptops for Russian aeronautical missions that proceeded over 700 days and ran continuously without any malfunction. Since then, ASUS had released many highly acclaimed laptops that sold over 20 million units worldwide Figure 8 Source:Gartner and received many industrial design awards from RedDot, IF and Gooddesign. [7] Its current market cap is roughly around 6.3 billion U.S. dollars [8]

ASUS Current Positioning

Variety based

Innovative technology – Asus computers comes built-in with in-house motherboards that has newest technology

Value – Asus laptops have the right price to performance ratio

Style – Asus laptops have good design and looks stylish.

Needs based

Affordable: Consumers that are looking for good specification with reasonable pricing

Durable: Laptop that has good quality that can be used for a long time with low malfunction

Good Performance: Laptop that has better than average performance, can handle day-to-day tasks for multimedia and gaming purposes

Wide Portfolio: Have low-mid range items to high-end collection to choose from.

Access based

In the US, there are currently 100 licensed distributors [9] which you can purchase ASUS products through brick and mortar shops like Wallmart, Target, Costco or Bestbuy. You can also purchase ASUS computers on their own website or through online retailers like Amazon.

General Performance

As of 2016, Asus computer market share in the US market is estimated at about 10.7 %,Figure 7 Source: Trendforce, Feb 2016, average ranking is 4th place of all pc vendors. PC shipments as of the 4th quarter of 2016 was estimated at at around 621,000 units, a -48.3% decline compared to same quarter of 2015.

Dell Inc. (Dell or "the company") is an information technology (IT) company offering a range of products, including desktop personal computers (PCs), tablets, and servers, networking products, storage, mobility products, software and security. It also provides a range of services, including consulting and product-related support services. The company operates in Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and other geographic regions. Dell is headquartered in Round Rock, Texas. [10] Dell’s portfolio of IT products include laptops, desktops, tablets, gaming consoles, workstations, servers and storage devices, networking services, monitors, printers, electronics, PC accessories, and gateways and embedded PCs. Dell’s core values include customers, winning together, innovation, results and integrity.[11] Their mission statement is “to to be the most successful computer company in the world at delivering the best customer experience in markets we serve”.[12]Dell says their company wants to ensure everyone in any type of environment can take advantage of technology. Their company focuses on the "work smarter, not harder" motto to try to help things with business. Leaders that not only have leadership capabilities but open-mindedness. Dell wants leaders who are capable of leading others, but who are open to new experiences and ideas. The company employs leaders who can recognize when they are not the most experienced, and are able to incorporate that into their management systems when the idea proves fruitful. Operating with an ethical and moral code - Dell focuses on improvement, both in business and community through the company's ethical and moral code. They believe in enhancing the quality of life for the surrounding community because in the long run, that will grow business and ensure everyone has the abilities and advantages of modern technology.

Dell’s history

Dell was originally called PC’s Limited, and was founded by Michael Dell, which was a university student at the time. Started selling ibm compatible computers built from components. Their first pc was sold in 1985, offered customers custom-built computers with the selection of components of their request. Their business model was a success, allowed them to gross more than $73 million in the first year of their business.

Zero inventory

Unlike ASUS, Dell did not build its business model based on product design or manufacturing. It aimed to become a company that understood customer’s needs and provided the right product in the shortest time as possible upon demand, customized to their own preference. To Dell, there were three essentials, direct sales, information for inventory and integrated value chain. By directly selling to their customers, Dell could understand their customers’ better and remove unnecessary cost by cutting out the middleman. By establishing a good communication channel with their customers, they could customize their customers’ needs based on their preference then provide the most suitable product. After receiving the product request from their customers, they can distribute these information instantly to their suppliers, such as components needed, model number, quantity, assemble and deliver them quickly to their customers. This ultra-lean supply chain management system helped Dell greatly reduce its inventory on hold time, when competitors averagely needed 30 to 40 days, Dell only needed 4 to 5 days. This not only helped Dell to significantly reduce its operating costs and increased its profits, but also remained competitive in the large quantity thin profit computer business. [13]

Up until this day, Dell