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Overview

ASUS is a computer hardware company that was initially established in Taiwan in 1989. The company also deals with consumer electronics. ASUS has remained relevant in the market for a long because it is interested in manufacturing products that have value today and even in the future. Currently, ASUS tops its competitors in the manufacturing of gaming brands and motherboards. On the production of consumer notebooks, ASUS is among the top three companies. ASUS became famous in America in 2007 after its impact on the PC industry; this was after its created its "Eee" PC. ASUS is continuing to overgrow in America because it positively impacts technology (Yung & Lai, 2012). For example, the firm is establishing new mobile trends in partnership with ASUS ZenFone. It is also developing other virtual products and IOT devices that act as the basis for robotics technology. Recent products that ASUS has introduced in the market include Zebno, a robot that has been designed to offer home assistance and entertainment to different families.

In the USA, ASUS has its headquarters in Taipei, Taiwan, in a district known as Beitou. ASUS offers a wide variety of products that include notebooks, mobile phones, laptops, monitors, motherboards, and optical storage. However, it the motherboards that have made the company famous since its establishment. Products of ASUS are durable. For example, laptops produced by ASUS can keep up individuals with tedious and extended day work. This why their laptops have become famous among university students in America. ZenBook series is affordable and offers laptops in various models; ZenBook has better and high quality than other laptop models. Aggression and innovation are other factors that are putting ASUS on top of the world's production map. For instance, in 2019, the company brought a lot of new products with different designs to the market.

ASUS international company faces stiff competition from the following companies; EIZO, HP, Intel, GIGABYTE, Micro-star, Xiamen, among others. Some of ASUS's competitors have been in the market for a long, for example, EIZO; this company was established in 1968 and developed visual solutions. HP is another company in the technological market for a long time, being established in 1939. HP company produces personal computers, printing devices, and offers other technical solutions (Pandey et al., 2021). ASUS company has remained competitive in the current market because it values quality, reliability, flexibility, which are key to any competitive environment.

As noted above, ASUS is facing stiff competition from other technological firms. Therefore,it exists in a perfect competitive market. Under this market structure, competition between firms occur at the highest level. Economists argue that this is the best market structure because it produces quality outcomes for the consumers. A perfect competition market has the following characteristics; knowledge about the market is available to all firms, meaning the roles of entrepreneurs are limited because both the producers and consumers have extensive information about the market. Firms are free to enter and leave the market because there are no barriers to this movement. Additionally, firms with this market structure produce homogeneous goods because there is a lack of branding in output units. Single firms do not influence market prices; if a single firm increases the price independently, it risks losing most of its customers. Government intervention is not required except when it wants to make the market more expensive.

ASUS is overcoming the challenges of a perfect competition market by setting competitive prices for its products. It determines the prices of its products by having a clear picture of the competitors' products and then researching the prices of the goods offered by them. Beating competition is the basic plan in this form of the market; thus, ASUS has opted for a strategy that focuses on a competition-based price strategy (Tykhonenko, 2018). ASUS is regularly changing its business plan to ensure it stays ahead of its competitors. Products of ASUS are manufactured in models that can be changed easily to beat competition from the rivals.

Supply and Demand Analysis in ASUS

ASUS company produces different electronic and network goods; thus, their customer segments range from distributors to retailers. Retail segments are made up of customers who can switch to products of other companies if a balance is not created between supply and demand. Consumer behavior of the various products manufactured by ASUS is determined by factors that include size, accessory memory, visual quality, motherboard, among others (Tampi, Pangemanan, & Tumewu, 2016). For example, before consumers buy ASUS laptops, they are looking for laptops that can easily slip into carrier bags. Consumers are concerned with portability, meaning they will look for small-sized laptops. RAM of ASUS devices is another factor that influences consumer behavior. Clients want to use electronics for multitasking, meaning they will opt for the ones with large RAM. Therefore, when designing their products, ASUS must consider all the factors influencing customer behavior. If the consequences of ASUS lack these desired qualities, then the consumers will opt to purchase products of its competitors.

In marketing, targeting refers to a strategy that divides a large market into segments to ensure firms reach their clients with ease. Some ASUS products are meant for a specific market segment; for example, the Zebno is intended for families to create companionship and entertainment. It innovated this robot to connect with different families, a group that can be defined within the market structure. ASUS is using targeting to learn more about its consumers and create advertisements that target different groups. Consumers incur extra switching costs when they change from one brand to the other, but this is not the case in ASUS because it has used a lower pricing strategy to outdo its competitors in the market (Tumewu & Ruslim, 2015). Despite the high quality of products of ASUS, they are also affordable because of the lower prices. In demand and supply analysis, switching cost occurs mainly in terms of monetary value.

ASUS exists in a perfect competition market structure; within this market, products are considered to be perfect substitutes for each other. Small firms within this market structure have their demand curve being perfectly elastic. Every firm here, including ASUS, is a price taker such that if it raises the prices of its products, then the demands of the products will reduce. Similarly, if ASUS introduces the prices of its products, consumers will opt to buy from its competitors, including EXIZON, Intel, HP, among others. In perfect competition, like the one experienced by ASUS company, the price of the products will be determined by different scenarios within the market. For example, if the demand for the products is high while the supply is low, then the prices of the commodities will increase.

Positioning in the market refers to the perception that has consumers have towards a particular brand. ASUS has constantly introduced quality products to the market; hence it has a strong position in the technological markets. Its products stand on top of those of rivals such as HP and Intel. In marketing, strong positioning makes the products of a given firm unique and has distinctions that are beneficial to the clients. Studies have put the income elasticity of ASUS's products to be less than one. Meaning the products are valuable to the consumers. However, in some cases, the elasticity demands of products of the same firm have exceeded one, meaning clients consider them to be superior. Demand elasticity of demand measures how a market is sensitive to an increase or decreased saturation in an advertisement. ASUS uses advertisement to attract more price-sensitive consumers, meaning they are willing to spend on their products, but this does not affect the price elasticity demand because ASUS is in a perfect market where every firm is a price taker.

Price Analysis

ASUS company has used various pricing strategies to outdo its competitors. For example, when launching a new product, the firm uses a premium pricing strategy. This strategy works to the advantage of ASUS because the prices are kept constant for all consumers. ASUS has the standardized price of all computer products that ranges between 300 to 10000 USD. The firm also uses the cost-advantage strategy to establish its new products; this reduces their bargaining power because they offer the products at lower prices to keep their customers loyal. The use of a value-based pricing strategy is not pronounced in ASUS due to the nature of the market structure; perfect competition. Notably, a value-based pricing strategy adjusts the prices of products based on their values and not the historical cost (Storie, 2013). Firms use this strategy to increase the prices of their products without affecting the sales volume. Companies use this pricing strategy when emotions drive decision-making processes or a scarcity of products involved in the purchasing process.

Marketing strategies utilized by ASUS international company include couponing that is done to inspire customers. For example, leads forms such as discounts are common in ASUS. Discounts are given to customers as forms of incentives that will maintain and attract new customers. A client is expected to get discounts once they spend time on the ASUS websites viewing its products, when they scroll down the informational pages, or when they move close to the last page. Ideally, couponing here is done to ensure new clients spent more time on the web pages of ASUS. ASUS also uses a couponing strategy that involves offering limited-time discounts where the clients set the hours or days available. As a result, ASUS gets its customers to act quickly rather than provide them with limited access. Limited-time offer is a couponing strategy that pops up mostly when ASUS is launching a new product. The strategy also works in favor of customers who have not settled for a particular brand provided by a given firm. Customers have the opportunities to do their research and narrow their options, thus landing on the ASUS website, and they will get information about its products and the offers provided in the form of discounts.

Bundling is a pricing strategy that is common in ASUS. For example, a client interested in buying a desktop computer can get both hardware and software devices combined and buy them at a lower price compared to when the client was to buy each item separately. Bundles are considered to be products on the owners because they have market ID, attributes of each item, and the set price (Chung, Lin & Hu, 2013). Bundling has enabled ASUS to sell its lesser-known products combined with the famous ones. Bundling is also important in attracting new customers who consider items that are complementary before making their purchases. Bundling increases the income of ASUS because consumers spent more money than they had initially planned.

ASUS firm exists in a perfect competition market, meaning it cannot practice price discrimination. Even with the benefits of both price skimming and full-cost pricing strategies, ASUS does not practice any of these strategies. For instance, price skimming involves a firm making high price for a new product but changing this due to reduction in its demand, but this does not apply in perfect competitive markets where a slight alteration in product price may reduce its demand severely (Shavandi & Zare, 2013). Full-cost pricing marketing strategies are designed to ensure a firm enjoys maximum profit. Again, this is not applicable in perfect competition; every firm is a price-taker, but under the full-cost pricing strategy, the product's price is determined by efforts used in its sales.

Strengths of ASUS International Company

ASUS international company has got it right in many areas. For example, it is among the manufacturing firms with cheap labor costs. ASUS has opened manufacturing firms in cheap labor costs; this is beneficial because the company achieves production efficiency. Production efficiency is crucial in the determination of the pricing strategy adopted by ASUS. ASUS remains committed to open manufacturing firms in different areas, including India, a huge and stable market for network and electronic devices. ASUS has been successful in creating more world partners. Currently, it has more than 50 service sites in close to 32 countries.

ASUS has developed a diversified portfolio of network and electronic devices. Their products are manufactured and offered in various brands and names within the markets. Their primary products are desktops, laptops, motherboards, projectors, among others. Diversification has allowed ASUS to keep on making a profit within different markets. If one brand is doing poorly in the market, the other can have a better market experience (Ruslim & Tumewu, 2015). Gaming machines provide by ASUS company are portable and of high quality. Many people around the world are welcoming these gaming machines provided by ASUS. Production innovation is another area where ASUS has to get it right. For instance, it recently launched classic gaming products that included the first design of a gaming laptop that is water-cooled. Other products recently assembled include ROG Maximus VIII Extreme, ROG Matrix GTX 980 Ti, among others. Even from its launch, ASUS has been offering high-quality products developed from innovation to the market.

ASUS has a strong reputation in the market, which is developed by the quality of its products. The quality of the products has ensured that ASUS has strong images in various markets across the world. Since the time when ASUS started its operations, it has been manufacturing durable products that have built these strong brand images. There is also an increase in the demand for smartphones. In 2015 ASUS decided to up its production of smartphones because the world was sliding to its uses. The market share of ASUS is increasing, showing that ASUS is getting its investment correctly. The PC market share of ASUS is about 7.6%, while it is also a significant shareholder in the motherboard sector. The increase in market shares of ASUS can be attributed to the quality of its products and performance in marketing. ASUS is an organization that has a state of art production. It has divided its products into various components that include many subsidiaries (Lee & Young, 2009). It also has an integrated supply chain; these features ensure ASUS can enter a new market and settle quickly to have a large production capability.

Where ASUS is getting it Wrong

ASUS is getting it wrong with its distribution system. Yes, the company has a great output capacity the distribution system is not adequate compared to its competitors' brands. For example, the distribution system cannot match that of Lenovo, HP, Intel, among others. ASUS has faced several controversies that have severely impacted its brands. For instance, the company lost a court battle in 2016 that dented its hope of becoming the leading technology firm. Studies have identified bugs in hardware manufacture by ASUS; this is another factor that ruins the market repercussion of ASUS. In comparison to a firm like Apple, ASUS lacks a defined communication system. Yes, Apple has been in the market for a long time, but a firm like Intel identifies itself as having better communication than ASUS. Differentiation of communication systems into various aspects is missing in ASUS. ASUS is not using aggressive marketing strategies to promote its products. For example, the company is not utilizing social media to advertise its products. The market shares of ASUS are not significant as those of its competitors.

Some products of ASUS have features that are not acceptable to all clients. For example, ZenFone 6 device has a widescreen that many clients will not like. Because significant electronic devices are not portable, ZenFone 4 has a light flash that makes it ineffective in taking pictures; thus, lovers of camera applications will not love this smartphone. ZenFone 5 is hard to use because it lacks a soft button after the LCD screen.

Conclusion

The expansion of ASUS faces the following threats; the increasing demand for smartphones is likely to reduce the sales made from other electronic devices, such as laptops and desktops. The smartphones developed are compatible with most aspects of technology. Demands for notebooks are failing. The PC market is also decaying slowly because the technology is shifting towards cloud-first and other mobile applications. Income generated from the sales of products such as batteries, monitors, among others, is reducing. Lastly, products of ASUS are sold in more than 32 countries across the world. Large countries like India, China, and other markets within the large Asian region are selling ASUS products. Revenues collected from sales made in these countries will be impacted negatively in case of currency fluctuations. However, the bottom line is that ASUS is a great company that can do better if it analyzes the shift in demand for technological and network devices.

References

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