Asus Eee Causing Industry Concerns
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It seems that the Asus Eee does not have the industry popularity as it does with the buying public. Erica Ogg has reported that Sony has its concerns with the Asus Eee:
“…Here at Sony’s annual Open House event, the senior vice president of Sony’s IT product division said the tiny $299 notebook could potentially shift the entire notebook industry.
“If (the Eee PC from) Asus starts to do well, we are all in trouble. That’s just a race to the bottom,” said Mike Abary.”
link: Sony leery of the Eee PC?
It seems that the manufacturers are worried about a machine that is inexpensive, simple, and meets the buyers’ needs. How many of us lug around a laptop that, for most of the time, has features that are not needed? The Asus Eee allows the user to do the everyday things that are necessary. These are mundane tasks such as checking email, visiting Web sites, and doing searches. The Asus Eee does the tasks that are necessary throughout the day. Resource intensive chores such as video editing or serious gaming are left for the desktop.
It seems that the manufacturers are concerned that they will no longer be able to sell us things that we really do not need. Granted that there will be a buying demographic who will like to have every possible convenience on their laptop. These power users will be willing to pay thousands for their laptops. Nevertheless, it seems that Asus has found a niche market in offering people simplicity to do everyday tasks with a lightweight affordable machine. Asus may have a small profit margin and a growing following. No wonder companies like Sony are concerned.
Catherine Forsythe
Director of Operations
FlyingHamster
2 Comments
GlennB
March 4th, 2008
at 7:09pm
I would be concerned if I were the major laptop manufacturers.
The only hesitancy I have toward one would be the smaller keyboard… I don’t have very small hands… maybe with practice I could adapt. Other than that, I would consider one in a moment as it does most of the things I do daily on a computer, and from what I’m reading in multiple reviews, does them fairly well.
Even though the price points for lesser equipped laptops has already fallen to fairly reasonable levels, why spend twice as you have to if the Asus does most of what you need?
Mike
March 18th, 2008
at 9:40pm
Sony Executive Baloney
‘it’s hard to push things forward when your primary objective becomes making the very cheapest possible machine you can (and not very best).’
Sony exec sees Eee-like PCs as having potentially negative impact on industry (herein ‘negative impact’)
Didn’t Sony ‘develop’ the lithium ion battery?
Wasn’t Sony’s lithium ion battery the ‘largest recall in electronics history’.
‘Innovation is hard enough to subsidize, but when your already thin margins flatten even further in trying to sell ultra-cheap machines, it’s easy to see the economics working against tech companies. (Asus has less to worry about here because its primary business is making PCs for other companies.) Of course, the reality is that ultra-cheap machines probably won’t soon envelop the lion’s share of computer sales and threaten what most think of as “real” PCs, so we probably don’t have to worry about the industry bottoming out because of the Eee.’ ibid ‘negative impact’
Didn’t Sony make computer components for Dell?
‘ultra-cheap machines probably won’t soon envelop the lion’s (li-ion, lithium-ion) share of computer sales and threaten what most think of as “real” PCs
PCs (personal computer safety!)