Asus 2008 Annual Report Download - page 5

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I. Letter to Shareholders
Dear shareholders:
First of all, I would like to thank you for your continuing support to ASUS. Last year was the first
year that the ASUS brand business was separated from the OEM business. For both our brand and OEM
business, we will focus on two-way value streams, working to improve processes and developing lean
organization operations. The global economy was shaken last year by the credit crisis originating in the
United States. After spreading quickly worldwide to engulf the entire financial system, the global
economy was hit by the crisis which in turn affected a wide range of industries. Even the information
industry could not avoid its impact. In 2008, consolidated sales revenue for the ASUS Computer brand
was NT$266.9 billion (self-assessed), rising 17% over 2007. Individual sales revenue for ASUS
Computer’ s parent company in 2008 was NT$249.351 billion. Earnings before tax were NT$20.557
billion and net income was NT$16.457 billion, decreasing 39.7% over 2007.
In 2008, ASUS Eee PC continued to shine in the information industry. The mini-computer quickly
became an emerging trend once the Eee PC appeared on the market in October 2007. The Eee PC gave
consumers an easy-to-use and user-friendly computer at an affordable price. Last year, the Eee PC trend
swept the world which upturned perceptions around the world toward mobile communication. Quickly
taking a leadership position in the minicomputer market, the Eee PC was crowned the year’ s hottest 3C
product by media around the globe. Besides being named the product of the year by Forbes and Stuff
Magazine in the U.K., the Japanese lifestyle and fashion magazine Dime gave the Eee PC top product
honors. Sweeping from the west side to the east side of the Atlantic, America’ s benchmark on-line retailer
Amazon also selected the Eee PC as the most popular Christmas gift and noted how consumers loved the
high mobility of the Eee PC. Spanning Japan, Taiwan, Europe and the U.S., there is no place in the world
that has not felt the effect of the Eee PC.
On the heels of the Eee PC and Eee Box, ASUS unveiled brand new product for the Eee family, the
all-in-one touch-panel Eee Top ET16 series, in November of last year. Equipped with a 15.6 inch touch
panel wide screen, the Eee Top ET16 can be operated with a simple touch of the finger which greatly
enhances computer interaction and operability and marks a significant departure from the traditional
desktop computer market.
With regard to the handheld business, ASUS Computer and the world leading GPS brand Garmin
announced the establishment of a strategic alliance in February of this year to launch a joint Garmin –
ASUS brand smart phone that combines leading smart phone and GPS technology.
Last year, ASUS received a total of 3,056 major domestic and international awards making an
average of 8 awards per day. These honors were a product of the hard work and effort that ASUS
employees put into their job daily. This is excellent testament to ASUS superior products and guaranteed
quality. Last year, the Bureau of Foreign Trade hired a world renowned brand survey institute to make a
ranking of the top 10 international brand values in Taiwan. ASUS Computers ranked first in the hardware
category with a brand value of US$1.324 billion, which represented an increase of 10.70% over the
previous year. Last year, ASUS Computer was the biggest winner at the 16th annual Symbol of
Excellence Awards. With our exceptional technical and R&D capability, deep insight in human thinking
and steady innovation, 51 ASUS products won Symbol of Excellence awards. Of these, the Eee PC and
R700t GPS both won gold medal awards and six other ASUS products received silver medal awards. At
this year’ s 17th annual award ceremony, ASUS garnered even more awards, capturing 53 Symbol of
Excellence Awards.