Asus to start making gaming laptops in India this year, eyes top market spot

Arnold Su- ASUS India

Asus will start making high-end gaming laptops in India this year, as it aims to become the number one player in the country’s consumer laptop market by the end of 2024, ahead of bigger rivals HP and Dell, a senior company official has told Moneycontrol.

The company, which moved up to the second rank in 2023, will ramp up local production and is committed to making all of its flagship products available to Indian consumers immediately after they are announced globally, Arnold Su, vice president of consumer and gaming PCs at Asus India, said.

“2023 was a good year for Asus India. From being a sixth-ranked brand in 2018 to being a number-two brand in 2023, we have come a long way. In 2024, we aim to replace the top player in India with up to 30 percent share,” Su said. “India is also a priority market due to its low PC penetration.”

The Taiwanese personal computer maker, which sells laptops at Rs 20,000 to Rs 4.5 lakhs, considers India a priority market.

India's consumer laptop market reached 5.2 million units in 2021 but in 2022, it dropped to 5 million. In 2023, it dropped to 4.8 million, as per IDC data cited by Asus. Su, however, said that Asus managed to grow while the overall market contracted.

“Last year, we cornered around 18 percent market share, up from 16 percent in 2022. In a few quarters, we will become number one. We have become significant players and were able to challenge the market leader,” he said.

In the overall PC market, including desktops, notebooks, and workstations, Asus moved past Acer to fourth position with a share of 12.5 percent last year, as per IDC data.

The executive said that artificial intelligence (AI) PCs will become standard in the next five to 10 years. Asus’ AI integration focuses more on computer vision and audio processing than generative AI abilities.

The company is increasing its local production of laptops in partnership with Flex to reduce reliance on imported devices.

“We are gradually increasing manufacturing, which is another focus area. Most of our laptops are imported, but we will gradually increase local manufacturing of these products. We want to make it more significant,” Su said.

Gaming bet

Until last year, Asus was making its mainstream or affordable laptops in India but in 2024, it will start making its high-end gaming laptops through Flex. Gaming laptops are priced between Rs 55,000 and Rs 4 lakh.

More players foraying into the laptop segment will open up the market, helping increase the PC penetration, which stands at 11 percent in India compared to 70-100 percent in matured markets like China and Taiwan.

“We are not looking at the competition but rather the remaining 89 percent of households that don't even have a laptop.

“More players coming to India is good…we need to make people understand that you require a PC. India is in a similar situation to China in 2008. In the next five years, India’s PC market will reach 30 million from 13 million currently,” Su said.

To reach more customers, Asus is stepping up investment in offline retail channels to increase its presence through small retailers in non-metro cities. It has over 250 exclusive stores across India, covering 600 out of 750 districts.