The ROG Session - An Interview with ASUS' Jackie Hsu

The ROG Session - ASUS' Jackie Hsu

During our week in Taipei for Computex 2011, we managed to snag ASUS' Corporate VP & GM of Worldwide Sales, Mr Jackie Hsu, for a short chat on ASUS' ROG products.

HWZ: ASUS has just revealed the Danshui Bay concept motherboard. How likely will we see it eventually in the market?

Jackie: To be honest, we are still evaluating whether we may have some technical difficulties. To combine two totally different platforms together is really difficult. Not only do we have to leverage our internal resources, we also have to leverage that of vendors, like Intel and other component vendors. ASUS has created this concept and now we are pushing our partners to finalize this product, so hopefully we can deliver it to this market.

 

HWZ: Is there any target launch date for this motherboard, for instance can we expect it around the expected launch period for the Intel X79 chipset?

Jackie: I think that is even more difficult. First of all, we have the technical difficulties to overcome, then we can see when we can finalize the development.

HWZ: We haven’t seen any ROG motherboards based on the upcoming Intel X79 chipset here at Computex. What are ASUS’ plans for this enthusiast chipset?

Jackie: Laughs. I think it’s still too early to describe. I’m sorry, no.

HWZ: How does ASUS see the motherboard segment in the next five years?

Jackie: Basically, we have gotten some research reports, from IDC and other analysts, saying that for both last year and this year, the desktop market will grow slightly, from 5 to 8%. That shows a very good trend for the PC industry, because in the past, everyone was saying that the mobile segment will replace the desktop completely.

This shows that it’s not true and in fact the proportion of the desktop and notebook markets is now quite stable. So we think that different platforms have their own use scenarios. This is one of the reasons why we want to focus on the gaming segment. We put a lot of resources on this segment because we know this is something that the mobile platform cannot achieve completely. Maybe the mobile platform is good enough for casual gamers, but not for hardcore gamers. They need a more powerful machine.

Also, look at the home now, there are so many devices. If you have four persons in a family, there are at least eight devices. Each person could have a notebook, or tablet or smartphone or a desktop PC. But how can we allow communication, share our photos, our music between each other?

HWZ: So you’re talking about a media hub?

Jackie: Yes, we call it a digital hub at home. No doubt, this kind of machine can give you the most powerful performance, the most storage and the best connectivity. We can have 12 or even 16 USB ports, but how many can you get on a notebook? This is the future of the desktop. It can provide such features that cannot be replaced by mobile devices.

The next idea is commercial usage. Due to security issues, most of the machines are still desktops, especially for someone that does not travel. These machines have limited connectivity and we feel that this segment will continue to be very important. We have gotten very positive feedback from the commercial segment. The demand is really coming back. In the past three years, we have seen a drop in demand due to the financial crisis, but now it has almost recovered.

HWZ: For the commercial segment, are they buying thin and light machines or All-in-ones (AIOs)?

Jackie: It depends, for more developed countries, like Japan, they like thin and light machines. But for the majority of countries, they don’t care about this. The size or form factor of the PC is not the major issue; they care about the cost or the performance over cost.

 

HWZ: Gigabyte has recently launched the G1.Assassin. Does ASUS have any fresh ideas to answer the challenge?

Jackie: We have been investing a lot of resources in the gaming segment for the last five years. So we not only have the leading technologies, but we understand our users. That’s why, in our presentation, we have some special features like ThunderBolt, which not only enhances gaming performance through its LAN solution, but also lead to greater enjoyment through its audio solution. You can also use your mobile devices to overclock or control some settings on our motherboards.

So we not only excel in the performance aspect, but also provide a total gaming solution. We would also like to see more competitors in this segment, because this can help to grow the segment. But I think that we are five years ahead.

HWZ: What direction would ASUS take with ROG in the future?

Jackie: We have two ideas basically; one is to go deeper on current technology, the other is to provide wider coverage, not only the original motherboard, but now we have notebook, VGA and other devices.

 

HWZ: Like the headphones? (ROG Vulcan)

Jackie: Yes, headphones are the latest, but sooner or later you’ll see more. In fact ASUS has very strict conditions for using the ROG branding on different products. We care about this brand very much. There’s a high level of recognition for the ROG brand, so every single ROG product, we want to create some excitement.

For instance, we have this German retailer, who met us at CeBIT this year and told us that every ASUS product with the ROG brand has sold very well. The customers do not care which products, as long as they have the ROG brand, they associate that with high performance.

HWZ: ROG power supply next?

Jackie: Laughs. Ok, that’s a very interesting topic to describe our spirit of ROG. Why do we call it ROG? Take for example, a bottle of water, we can’t just put a ROG sticker on it. That’s not ROG, it does not have the real spirit. So, water with ROG logo, no difference, it cannot be an ROG product. Power supply, no difference? It’s not ROG unless the product can really help users to win. We cannot say we believe this product can deliver some benefits to users, but if end-users cannot recognize it, there’s no value.

The ROG Design Process

HWZ: Will we see Intel’s ThunderBolt on ASUS motherboards or notebooks soon?

Jackie: Basically, we have very long term partnerships with vendors, so every time they have a new platform, we are always a co-developing partner. So we will put a lot of resources on those new platforms. It’s still too early to say because we have some development lead time.

HWZ: Besides the ROG brand, ASUS also has the TUF series. How has the market responded to that?

Jackie: That’s also an interesting product. We created the ROG products because we wanted to help our end-users to win against the competition. But the TUF series, we realized that some users always keep their PCs on, 24/7 for the entire year. They are always worried that doing so will lead to PC problems.

This gives us the idea of products and components that are meant for an environment without any downtime. Hence, we call it TUF, very ‘tough’, just like in the real world, where your devices cannot stop. That will cost you if it’s not very stable. Our idea is to let users have that kind of reliability.

That is our original idea. We started with one segment, motherboards, but we’ll expand the product coverage. So far, we had very good feedback.

HWZ: ROG products have won various design awards. Tell us more about the design process.

Jackie: This is a very interesting topic, but if I say too much, I will teach my competitors. Laughs. To be honest, inside ASUS we have some hardcore gamers, but that is not enough. So we really need to get feedback from the outside, from real hardcore gamers.

Basically, before we develop a product, whether notebook or motherboard, we have some very concrete conversations with focus group users. We ask them what kind of features they need and whether they appreciate our design approach.

For example, our ROG notebooks. We got feedback from one gamer, who said that it is very dark in the typical gaming environment and that the ambient light from the display did not help. We took this feedback in mind for our product and we now have backlit keyboard on the notebook. So this is part of our design process.

We not only listen to our users, but also communicate with them. They have some ideas, but at the same time, we have to let them know, how much it costs to have certain features. Because we can deliver what they want, but the price could be very high. So we have to let them know, for a price segment, what kind of features are possible.

Hence, we need two-way communication because the reality is users have to buy our products and if the price is sky-high, no one will appreciate.

Inside ASUS, we have different R&D departments. The present R&D team is doing things for the present and the future. Besides, we also have another interesting R&D department known as Da Vinci Lab. That lab is always studying and developing technologies or concepts that can be used three years later.

HWZ: Can you give any examples of research projects at Da Vinci Lab that become products?

Jackie: Yes, one thing is the tablet. The first tablet from ASUS, that’s the current Eee Note. The Eee Note was developed by Da Vinci, almost three years ago. They started with this, even before we saw the iPad. They were thinking whether this product should be closer to the original PC Tablet or to an e-book reader. Finally, they thought that they could create a different use for it, which is note-taking. That’s why it’s called the Eee Note.

HWZ: ROG notebooks are now coming with 3D displays. Do you see the 3D market growing?

Jackie: Since last year, this has been a hot topic. But I think now that users still need to have an extra device (3D glasses) to get into the 3D environment. Actually, even with 3D glasses, there are users who appreciate this technology. So when it comes to this topic, there’s potential.

But for the majority of users, it is still too early. We think it’s the future, so we are investing resources. Currently, we have a 24-inch 3D monitor, but we will soon be producing a 27-inch 3D LCD monitor.

HWZ: How about 30-inch displays?

Jakie: I think that is not the direction we want, because that will get into the TV display segment. In our current roadmap, we’ll focus on 27-inch and below.

And that's all the time we had with Mr Hsu. You can check out more Computex related articles here.

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