Talking about the challenges and opportunities in the Indian tech industry, he says, ‘’With the AI era coming into the picture, the hardware is comparatively ready for AI compared to the software.”
India is well known for it’s software industry which is supported by many software engineers. Multinational companies set up their labs and offices in India. This is a good opportunity for India to capture the AI era, said Arnold Su, Vice President of Asus India in an interview with BW Businessworld.
Su shared insights into the strategic importance of Asus’ new store opening and its alignment with the brand’s overall growth and revenue targets. Edited excerpts:
What strategic importance does this new store hold for Asus’s market expansion in India?
The key reason to open the store is to make our technology easily accessible to the end customer. Today, all the laptops are on display, live. You can see our gaming machine, two-in-one machine, dual screen and all-in-one, live. We are not here to just sell a box; we are here to sell the technology. To sell the technology, you need to provide the machine live to the customer. The customer should be able to easily access the machines. To reach this goal, you have to increase your presence.
I recently explained to others that I was in Kolkata and I moved to Durgapur, Medinipur and Bhubaneswar. I realised 40 per cent of the Kolkata customers are not living in Kolkata. They took a train from Medinipur, Durgapur or Khargpur, all the way to Kolkata, bought a laptop and went back to their hometown. We believe we should have our stores in their hometown.
How does this store opening align with Asus’s overall growth and revenue target for this fiscal year?
Store growth is significant for us. We noticed a trend in India where multi-brand outlets are reducing and most are converting to exclusive stores. It’s not only in the IT industry; you see it in mobiles, clothes and many other industries. Brand stores provide trust to the customer. Till now, we already have close to 280 shops, soon, we will have about 300 stores in India. Our target is to cover all 600 districts, ensuring every district capital has one ASUS store.
What are the key challenges and opportunities you foresee in the Indian tech industry?
I would not say there are any challenges as such, As for opportunities, with the AI era coming into the picture, the hardware is fairly ready for AI when compared to the software. India is well known for the software industry, many multinational companies set up their labs and offices in India. This is a good opportunity for India to capture the AI era.
Do you think the recent Microsoft outage will create a bad impact on Windows customers?
I cannot comment on a specific incident. But going forward, the AI PC is about an ecosystem. In the mobile industry, you have Android and iOS. In AI Personal Computer (PC), there will be different ecosystems competing. As ASUS, we are a hardware provider and we want our hardware to run in different ecosystems.
You have recently launched the VivoBook with the first ARM-based processor. How do you see this affecting the Windows experience?
This is the first time we have launched with Qualcomm in India. We have high expectations with this solution. The latest AI PC was co-piloted and it is already performing well. We see a good chance to lead in the AI category with Qualcomm.
How does Asus plan to differentiate itself from other competitors?
Our key differentiation is our products. Our store proudly provides more variety. We are leading in technology and want the technology to be affordable to the general public. For example, we brought the OLED laptop to the under 50,000 segment, making the latest technology available for the mainstream segment.
What initiatives is Asus taking to ensure sustainable growth and profitability in business in India?
We are not just looking for numbers. We are cautious in our store openings, ensuring proper surveys and Return on investment (ROI). I travel to understand different cities and business opportunities. We combine product strategy with our channel expansion strategy to make the business viable in each store. For example, we recently launched an affordable AIO (All-in-One) PC, catering to customers’ needs in smaller cities.
