Asus steps up ‘Make in India’ drive with Dixon, eyes top consumer laptop brand slot by 2026

The company expects the ongoing festive season to accelerate sales momentum, with locally made laptops set to surpass double digits as a share of total shipments this year

Taiwanese PC major Asus aims to claim the top spot in India’s consumer laptop market by 2026, powered by double-digit growth, expanding local manufacturing with Dixon Technologies, and a sharper focus on offline retail and gaming devices.

The company expects the ongoing festive season to accelerate sales momentum, with locally made laptops set to surpass double digits as a share of total shipments this year and continue to rise further in 2026 under the government’s PLI scheme.

“Most likely, 2025 will close with Asus as the No. 2 player. However, 2026 will be a critical year in which we have a real chance to challenge for the No. 1 spot. We are fighting very closely with our rivals in the consumer space. We are currently the leader in India’s gaming PC market with 25-30% share,” Arnold Su, vice president, consumer & gaming PC, System Business Group, Asus India, told Moneycontrol.

The company, which currently alternates between the No. 1 and No. 2 positions in the overall consumer PC segment, closed September 2025 with a 22% market share. “In October, we will perform even better. We have a strong base for 2025, and we see a big opportunity in 2026 for the number one position.”

“Our growth momentum is strong, and in the first 15 days, our growth is more than 40% year-on-year, above our initial 30% target. We expect the growth to continue for the rest of the festive season,” he said.

Gaming drives growth momentum

Gaming continues to be Asus’s strongest growth pillar in India, with the brand maintaining a 25–30% share of the gaming laptop market.

This translates to one in every three gaming laptops sold in India being an Asus device. In the premium gaming category, especially the NVIDIA RTX 5000 series, Asus commands more than 60–70% market share, he said.

“We want to ensure that with all the latest technology that Asus brings globally, India should be the first country to get it. Our ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X devices are launched globally and we are launching them simultaneously in India. India is an important market,” he said.

Su said India’s gaming penetration within the overall consumer PC market has reached 25%, with room to grow to 40% in the next year, in line with global averages. “This is why we keep expanding the ROG ecosystem,” he added.

Manufacturing expansion with Dixon

On the manufacturing front, Asus is scaling up local production of its consumer laptops in partnership with Dixon Technologies.

“This year, our locally made units will cross double digits as a percentage of total shipments,” Su said. “In 2026, we aim to further increase our local production, aligning with the government’s PLI scheme.”

Asus is also betting big on AI PCs, projecting that AI-enabled devices will form 15–20% of its total PC sales in 2026, up from 7–8% this year.

The company is offering AI PCs across Qualcomm, Intel, and AMD platforms, covering a price range of Rs 50,000–Rs 1.2 lakh.

“The AI PC contribution to our business is around 6-7%. But we see good growth in the second half of 2025 with new launches from Qualcomm, Intel and AMD. Now, we have more offerings in the AI PC segment. The penetration of AI PC will further increase to 15-20% contribution towards our overall business,” he said.

Demand for Qualcomm Snapdragon-powered PCs has grown from under 1% in early 2025 to about 6% by Q3. “With improved software compatibility and better performance at affordable price points, we see the ARM-based PC segment growing rapidly,” Su noted.

Asus has seen over 40% year-on-year growth in the first half of the festive season, driven by a mix of new purchases and replacement demand. “We’re observing a clear replacement cycle kicking in, especially for devices bought between 2020 and 2022,” Su said. Exchange offers now account for over 30% of sales, up from 10–15% last year.

Aggressive retail and rural push

Asus plans to expand its physical presence significantly, targeting 400–450 exclusive stores by end-2026, up from 320 currently. It also aims to widen its dealer base from 5,000 to 7,000–8,000 partners, with a strong focus on tier 3 and tier 4 towns.

“The upcountry will drive India’s next phase of PC growth,” Su said. “In rural and smaller cities, PC penetration is only 2–5%, compared to 20–30% in metros. We’re expanding our distribution and demo zones in these regions to create new demand.”