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ASUSTeK Computer Incorporated (ASUS) , a Taiwanese multinational company, produces motherboard
Motherboard

A motherboard is the central printed circuit board in some complex electronic systems, such as modern personal computers. The motherboard is sometimes alternatively known as the mainboard, system board, or, on Apple Inc....
s, graphics cards, optical drives, PDAs, computer monitors, notebook computers, servers
Server (computing)

A server is a computer program that provides services to other computer programs , in the same or other computer. The physical computer that runs a server program is also often referred to as server....
, networking product
Computer networking device

Computer networking devices are units that mediate data in a computer network. Computer networking devices are also called network equipment, Intermediate Systems or InterWorking Unit ....
s, mobile phone
Mobile phone

A mobile phone is a long-range, electronic device used for mobile voice or data communication over a network of specialized base stations known as cell sites....
s, computer case
Computer case

A computer case is the enclosure that contains the main components of a computer. It has also been erroneously called the CPU, however this is an entirely different component....
s, computer components
Electronic component

An electronic component is a basic Electronics element usually packaged in a discrete form with two or more connecting leads or metallic pads....
, and computer cooling
Computer cooling

Computer cooling is the process of removing heat from computer components.A computer system's components produce large amounts of heat during operation, including integrated circuits such as Central processing units, chipset and Video card, along with Hard disk drive....
 systems. Commonly called by its brand name ASUS (pronounced ] and commonly mispronounced as ah-sus), it is listed on both the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange

The London Stock Exchange or LSE is a stock exchange located in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1801, it is one of the largest stock exchanges in the world, with many overseas listings as well as British companies....
  and the Taiwan Stock Exchange
Taiwan Stock Exchange

The Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation is a financial institution, located in Taipei 101, in Taipei, Taiwan. The TSEC was established in 1961 and began operating as a stock exchange on 9 February, 1962....
 . In 2007, one in three desktop PCs sold used an ASUS motherboard; and the company's 2007 revenues reached US$6.9 billion.

ASUS appears in BusinessWeek
BusinessWeek

BusinessWeek is a business magazine published by McGraw-Hill. It was first published in 1929 under the direction of Malcolm Muir, who was serving as president of the McGraw-Hill Publishing company at the time....
’s InfoTech 100 and Asia’s Top 10 IT Companies rankings.






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ASUSTeK Computer Incorporated (ASUS) , a Taiwanese multinational company, produces motherboard
Motherboard

A motherboard is the central printed circuit board in some complex electronic systems, such as modern personal computers. The motherboard is sometimes alternatively known as the mainboard, system board, or, on Apple Inc....
s, graphics cards, optical drives, PDAs, computer monitors, notebook computers, servers
Server (computing)

A server is a computer program that provides services to other computer programs , in the same or other computer. The physical computer that runs a server program is also often referred to as server....
, networking product
Computer networking device

Computer networking devices are units that mediate data in a computer network. Computer networking devices are also called network equipment, Intermediate Systems or InterWorking Unit ....
s, mobile phone
Mobile phone

A mobile phone is a long-range, electronic device used for mobile voice or data communication over a network of specialized base stations known as cell sites....
s, computer case
Computer case

A computer case is the enclosure that contains the main components of a computer. It has also been erroneously called the CPU, however this is an entirely different component....
s, computer components
Electronic component

An electronic component is a basic Electronics element usually packaged in a discrete form with two or more connecting leads or metallic pads....
, and computer cooling
Computer cooling

Computer cooling is the process of removing heat from computer components.A computer system's components produce large amounts of heat during operation, including integrated circuits such as Central processing units, chipset and Video card, along with Hard disk drive....
 systems. Commonly called by its brand name ASUS (pronounced ] and commonly mispronounced as ah-sus), it is listed on both the London Stock Exchange
London Stock Exchange

The London Stock Exchange or LSE is a stock exchange located in London, United Kingdom. Founded in 1801, it is one of the largest stock exchanges in the world, with many overseas listings as well as British companies....
  and the Taiwan Stock Exchange
Taiwan Stock Exchange

The Taiwan Stock Exchange Corporation is a financial institution, located in Taipei 101, in Taipei, Taiwan. The TSEC was established in 1961 and began operating as a stock exchange on 9 February, 1962....
 . In 2007, one in three desktop PCs sold used an ASUS motherboard; and the company's 2007 revenues reached US$6.9 billion.

ASUS appears in BusinessWeek
BusinessWeek

BusinessWeek is a business magazine published by McGraw-Hill. It was first published in 1929 under the direction of Malcolm Muir, who was serving as president of the McGraw-Hill Publishing company at the time....
’s InfoTech 100 and Asia’s Top 10 IT Companies rankings. It is the number one in quality and service according to Wall Street Journal Asia and leads the IT Hardware category of the 2008 Taiwan
Taiwan

Taiwan is an island in East Asia. "Taiwan" is also commonly used to refer to the country governed by the Republic of China and to the ROC itself, which governs the island of Taiwan, Orchid Island and Green Island, Taiwan in the Pacific Ocean off the Taiwan coast, the Penghu islands in the Taiwan Strait, and Kinmen and the Matsu Islands...
 Top 10 Global Brands survey with a total brand value of US$1.324 billion.

Corporate information


History

TH Tung, Ted Hsu, Wayne Hsieh, and MT Liao founded ASUS in 1989 in Taipei
Taipei

Taipei has been the de facto capital of the Republic of China, commonly known as Taiwan, since the Chinese Civil War in 1949, and the capital of Taiwan since Japanese rule that began in 1895....
, Taiwan
Taiwan

Taiwan is an island in East Asia. "Taiwan" is also commonly used to refer to the country governed by the Republic of China and to the ROC itself, which governs the island of Taiwan, Orchid Island and Green Island, Taiwan in the Pacific Ocean off the Taiwan coast, the Penghu islands in the Taiwan Strait, and Kinmen and the Matsu Islands...
 — all four founders worked as computer engineers for Acer
Acer (company)

Acer Incorporated is a Taiwanese multinational electronics manufacturer. It owns the largest franchised computer retail chain in Taipei, Taiwan....
. The name ASUS originated from Pegasus
Pegasus

In Greek mythology, Pegasus was a winged horse sired by Poseidon, in his role as horse-god, and foaled by the Gorgon Medusa....
, the winged horse of Greek mythology. The first three letters of the word were dropped to give the resulting name a high position in alphabetical listings.

In 2005, shipments from ASUS, ECS
Elitegroup Computer Systems

Elitegroup Computer Systems , also known as ECS, is a Taiwan-based electronics firm. It is the fourth largest PC motherboard manufacturer in the world , with production reaching 24 million units in 2002....
, Gigabyte, and MSI
Micro-Star International

Micro-Star International , is a Taiwan based computer hardware manufacturer best known for desktop computer motherboards. MSI also designs and manufactures graphics cards, barebone PCs, notebook computers, computer networking devices, server s, multimedia, consumer electronics, and storage devices....
 totaled 104.86 million units. ASUS led with 52 million units, followed by ECS with 20 million, MSI with 18 million, and Gigabyte with 16.6 million.

ASUS also produces components for other manufacturers, including Sony
Sony

is a multinational corporation list of conglomerates corporation headquartered in Minato, Tokyo, Japan, and one of the world's largest media conglomerates with revenue exceeding US$99.1 billion ....
 (PlayStation 2
PlayStation 2

The PlayStation 2 is a History of video game consoles video game console manufactured by Sony. The successor to the PlayStation, and the predecessor to the PlayStation 3, the PlayStation 2 forms part of the PlayStation of video game consoles....
), Apple Inc. (iPod
IPod

iPod is a brand of portable media players designed and marketed by Apple Inc. and launched on . The product line-up includes the hard drive-based iPod Classic, the touchscreen iPod Touch, the video-capable iPod Nano, and the compact iPod Shuffle....
, iPod Shuffle
IPod shuffle

The iPod Shuffle is a digital audio player designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It is the budget model in Apple's iPod family. It was announced at the Macworld Conference & Expo on January 11, 2005, using the tagline "life is random"....
, MacBook
MacBook

The MacBook is a brand of Macintosh Laptops by Apple Inc. Introduced in May 2006, it replaced the iBook G4 and 12 inch PowerBook series of notebooks as a part of the Apple Intel transition....
), Alienware
Alienware

Alienware is an United States computer hardware company and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Dell It mainly assembles third party components into desktop computers with custom enclosures for high-performance gaming....
, Falcon Northwest
Falcon Northwest

Falcon Northwest is a personal computer manufacturing company located in Medford, Oregon, USA which was founded in 1992 by its current president, Kelt Reeves....
, Palm, Inc.
Palm, Inc.

Palm, Inc. is a personal digital assistant and smartphone manufacturer headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, California that is responsible for popular products such as the Zire Handheld, Tungsten Handheld personal digital assistant, Treo smartphones and the LifeDrive....
, HP.

Relationship with Intel

In the early 1990s, Taiwan-based motherboard manufacturers had not yet established their leading positions in the computer hardware business
Business

A business is a legally recognized organization designed to provide good s and/or Service to consumers. Businesses are predominant in capitalism economies, most being privately owned and formed to earn profit that will increase the wealth of its owners....
. Intel would supply any new processors to more established companies like IBM
IBM

International Business Machines Corporation, abbreviated IBM and nicknamed "Big Blue" , is a multinational corporation computer technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, New York, United States....
 first, and the Taiwanese companies would be forced to wait for approximately six months after IBM received their engineering prototypes.

When Intel released its 486
Intel 80486

The Intel i486, otherwise known as the 80486, was the first tightly pipeline x86 design. Introduced in 1989, it was also the first x86 chip to use more than a million transistors, due to a large on-chip cache and an integrated floating point unit....
 as engineering samples, ASUS decided to design its own 486 motherboard without having a 486 processor engineering sample on site, using only the technical details published by Intel and the experience they gained while making the 386
Intel 80386

The Intel 80386, otherwise known as the i386 or just 386, is a microprocessor which has been used as the central processing unit of many personal computers and workstations since 1986....
-compatible motherboards. When ASUS finalized its 486 motherboard prototype, they took it to Intel's base in Taiwan for testing. Unsurprisingly, there was not a formal greeting when they arrived. It turned out that Intel's own 486 motherboard prototype had encountered design flaws, and Intel's engineers were rectifying it. The ASUS founders exercised their experience with the 486 and had a look at Intel's malfunctioning motherboard. Their solution worked, to the Intel engineers' surprise. Intel then tested the ASUS prototype, which functioned perfectly. This marked the beginning of an informal relationship between the two companies – ASUS now receives Intel engineering samples ahead of its competitors.

ASUS has become one of the main supporters of Intel's Common Building Block
Common Building Block

Common Building Block is a set of standards for laptop components introduced by Intel in 2005, slowly being adopted by some manufacturers in 2006 ....
 initiatives.

Corporate restructuring

As of 3 January 2008, ASUS has been in the process of restructuring its operations. The company will be split into three distinct operational units:

  1. ASUS
  2. Pegatron
  3. Unihan


The ASUS brand will be used solely for first-party branded computers. Pegatron will handle motherboard and component OEM manufacturing. Unihan will focus on non-PC manufacturing such as cases and molding. In the process of restructuring, the highly criticized pension-plan restructuring effectively zeroed out the current pension balances. Previous employee contributions were returned.

Open Handset Alliance

On 9 December, 2008, the Open Handset Alliance
Open Handset Alliance

The Open Handset Alliance is a business alliance of 47 firms including Google, High Tech Computer Corporation, Intel, Motorola, Qualcomm, Samsung, LG, T-Mobile, Nvidia and Wind River Systems to develop open standards for mobile devices....
 announced that ASUSTek Computer Inc. had become one of 14 new members of the organization. These "new members will either deploy compatible Android devices, contribute significant code to the Android Open Source Project, or support the ecosystem through products and services that will accelerate the availability of Android-based devices."

Timeline


  • 2002: Formed subsidiary ASRock
    ASRock

    ASRock Inc. produces motherboards, in the past mainly for the budget-mainstream sector but more recently also focusing on high-end motherboards....
    .
  • September/October 2003: debuts in the cellphone market with the J100 model.
  • September 2005: releases their first PhysX
    PhysX

    PhysX is a proprietary software realtime physics engine middleware Software development kit originally developed by Ageia as the NovodeX SDK. The software was PhysX can also refer to a Physics processing unit add-in card designed by Ageia to accelerate PhysX-enabled video games....
     accelerator card.
  • December 2005: enters the LCD TV market with the TLW32001 model, initially only available on the Taiwan market.
  • January 2006: ASUS announced that it would cooperate with Lamborghini
    Lamborghini

    Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A., commonly referred to as Lamborghini, is an Italy manufacturer of sports cars, based in the small Italian village of Sant'Agata Bolognese, near Bologna....
     to develop its VX series.
  • March 9 2006: ASUS is announced to be one of the producers of the first Microsoft Origami models, together with Samsung
    Samsung Group

    The Samsung Group is the world's largest conglomerate. leading several industries in the world. It is composed of numerous international businesses, all united under the Samsung brand, including Samsung Electronics, the world's largest electronics company, Samsung Heavy Industries, one of the world's largest shipbuilders and Samsung Engi...
     and Founder. Samsung and ASUS devices expected by April 2006.
  • August 8 2006: announced joint venture with Gigabyte Technology
    Gigabyte Technology

    Gigabyte Technology is a Taiwan-based manufacturer of computer hardware products best known for its motherboards. The company is publicly held and traded on the Taiwan Stock Exchange ....
    .
  • June 5 2007: ASUS announced the Eee PC at COMPUTEX Taipei 2007.
  • September 9, 2007: ASUS started to support Blu-ray by announcing the release of BD-ROM/DVD writer PC drive, BC-1205PT. It has been followed by the release of several Blu-ray based notebooks.
  • October 31 2007: launched their PDA/smartphone range to the UK market.
  • January 3 2008: ASUS formally splits into three companies: ASUSTeK, Pegatron and Unihan.
  • May 2008: Incompatibility of ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe motherboard with Windows XP SP3 first discovered
  • August 2008: ASUS refuses to accept responsibility, or provide support, for the incompatibility between its A8N32-SLI Deluxe motherboard and Windows XP SP3, thereby tacitly refusing to guarantee that any of its manufactured components' will remain compatible throughout the entire lifespan of a given Windows platform (in this case, the wide-spread Windows XP operating system).
  • August 12 2008: ASUS creates a new motherboard (ZT23) capable of clocking a processing speed of 120GHz, a record
  • August 22 2008: details of the N10, a mid-level version of the Eee PC, leaked online
  • December 2008: ASUS quietly releases a beta BIOS update that potentially fixes the Windows XP SP3 incompatibility with the ASUS A8N32-SLI Deluxe motherboard. Users are urged to only update to this version if their systems display relevant symptoms.


Manufacturing facilities and service centers

Currently ASUS has manufacturing facilities in:

  • Taiwan
    Republic of China

    The Republic of China , also known as Nationalist China is a country in East Asia that has evolved from a single-party state with full global recognition into a multi-party democratic state with Political status of Taiwan....
     (Taipei
    Taipei

    Taipei has been the de facto capital of the Republic of China, commonly known as Taiwan, since the Chinese Civil War in 1949, and the capital of Taiwan since Japanese rule that began in 1895....
    , Lujhu
    Lujhu, Taoyuan

    File:Nankan Creek Night.jpgLujhu Township is a rural township in northwestern Taoyuan County in Taiwan.Lujhu is located at kilometer 49 of the Highway no.1, close to the Taiwan Taoyuan International Airport ....
    , Nankan, Gueishan
    Gueishan, Taoyuan

    Guishan is a rural township in northeastern Taoyuan County , Taiwan.* Area: 75.50 km?* Population: 132,009 people ...
    )
  • Mainland China
    People's Republic of China

    The People's Republic of China , commonly known as China, is the largest country in East Asia and the List of countries by population in the world with over 1.3 billion people, approximately a fifth of the world's population....
     (Suzhou
    Suzhou

    Suzhou is a city on the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and on the shores of Lake Taihu in the province of Jiangsu, China. The city is renowned for its beautiful stone bridges, pagodas, and meticulously designed Chinese garden which have contributed to its status as a great tourist attraction....
    )
  • Mexico
    Mexico

    The United Mexican States , commonly known as Mexico , is a federalism constitutionalism republic in North America. It is bordered on the north by the United States; on the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; on the southeast by Guatemala, Belize, and the Caribbean Sea; and on the east by the Gulf of Mexico....
     (Juarez
    Juárez

    Ju?rez may refer to a number of places and things, most of which are named after Benito Ju?rez, President of Mexico on several occasions during the 19th century....
    )
  • Czech Republic
    Czech Republic

    The Czech Republic , is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country borders Poland to the northeast, Germany to the west, Austria to the south and Slovakia to the east....
     (Ostrava
    Ostrava

    Ostrava is the third largest city in the Czech Republic, however it is the second largest urban agglomeration after Prague. It is also the administrative center of the Moravian-Silesian Region and of the Municipality with Extended Competence....
    )


Asus has a monthly production capacity of two million motherboards and 150,000 notebook computers.

The ASUS Hi-Tech Park, located in Suzhou, China, covers 540,000 square meters, roughly the size of 82 soccer fields.

ASUS operates 50 service sites in 32 countries and has over 400 service partners worldwide. Support is available in 37 languages.

Sub-Brands


Eee


ASUS has generated a lot of buzz with its Eee
ASUS Eee

File:2008Computex ASUS Eee Box white with customized skin.jpgASUS Eee is a family of products by Asustek. The product family began with the release of the Eee PC subnotebook in 2007; since then, the product family has diversified into a number of PC form factors....
-branded line of products, led by the Eee PC netbook
Netbook

A netbook is a class of laptop computer designed for wireless communication and access to the Internet.Primarily designed for World Wide Web and e-mailing, netbooks "rely heavily on the Internet for remote access to web application" and are targeted increasingly at cloud computing users who require a less powerful Client ....
. Since its launch in October 2007, the Eee PC has garnered numerous awards, including Forbes
Forbes

Forbes is an United States publishing and mass media company. Its flagship publication, Forbes magazine, is published bi-weekly. Its primary competitors in the national business magazine category are Fortune , which is also published bi-weekly, and Business Week....
 Asia’s Product of the Year, Stuff Magazine’s Gadget of the Year and Computer of the Year, NBC.com’s Best Travel Gadget, Computer Shopper's Best Netbook of 2008, PC Pro's Hardware of the Year, PC World's Best Netbook, and DIME magazine’s 2008 Trend Award Winner.

ASUS has since added several products to its Eee lineup, including Eee Box, a compact nettop, Eee Top, an all-in-one touchscreen computer housed in an LCD monitor enclosure, and Eee Stick, a plug-and-play wireless controller for the PC platform that translates users’ physical hand motions into corresponding movements onscreen.

ROG

In 2006, ASUS established the Republic of Gamers (ROG) to develop PC hardware especially for gamers and overclocking enthusiasts. ROG products represent the highest end in ASUS’ range; they feature premium components and proprietary innovations.

ASUS original features

ASUS has introduced a number of original features and tools that complemented its products, especially motherboards. The table below lists them, together with some third-party technologies, rebranded under ASUS-specific names (note: the acronym AI, which prefixes many of the feature names, stands for ASUS Intelligence).

ASUS is known for its extensive cooling solutions on its enthusiast's motherboards and video cards. Many incorporate a large copper cooler that does not require the presence of a fan.


>
NameYear of introductionProductDescriptionPatent
Patent

A patent is a set of exclusive rights granted by a state to an inventor or his assignee for a term of patent in exchange for a disclosure of an invention....
ed
AI NET 2002 Motherboards Diagnoses LAN connection problems before starting the OS
AI NOS 2005 Motherboards Non-delay Overclocking System. A dynamic overclocking
Overclocking

Overclocking is the process of running a computer hardware at a higher clock rate than it was designed for or was specified by the manufacturer, usually practiced by personal computer enthusiasts seeking an increase in the performance of their computers....
 technology
AI Proactive 2004 Motherboards a blanket term for all AI enhancements
AI Quiet/Q-Fan 2003 Motherboards Controls fan-speed to requirement for noise management
Audio DJ 2005 Motherboards and notebooks Allows playing Audio CDs without turning the computer on. Notebooks supporting this feature normally have play/pause, stop and other control buttons on the front, where they are accessible even when the notebook is closed.
Express Gate /Lite 2008 Motherboards On boot-up, the user is given the option to boot a version of Linux stored on some Flash memory on the motherboard. Users can surf the internet and use Skype, IM, YouTube, webmail and internet file downloads without booting into another operating system
Operating system

An operating system is an interface between hardware and applications; it is responsible for the management and coordination of activities and the sharing of the limited resources of the computer....
.
ASUS EZ Flash 2004 Motherboards Allows update of the BIOS
BIOS

In computing, the Basic Input/Output System , also known as the System BIOS, is a de facto standard defining a firmware interface for IBM PC Compatible computers....
 through a non-boot floppy which just contains the new BIOS image. Built-in with the BIOS firmware and can be accessed by pressing ALT+F2 during the power-on self-test
Power-on self-test

Power-on self-test is the common term for a computer, router or printer's pre-boot sequence. The same basic sequence is present on all computer architectures....
 
C.P.R.
(CPU Parameter Recall) 		2004 Motherboards Automatically restore default CPU settings at reboot when the system fails due to overclocking.
ASUS CrashFree BIOS 2004 Motherboards If the BIOS becomes corrupted, CrashFree BIOS 2 allows the user to perform a recovery using the motherboard support CD.
Color Shine (or Colour Shine), Crystal Shine 2006 Laptop LCDs ASUS marketing names for the anti-reflective LCD technology
Anti-reflective screen

A glossy display is an display device with a glossy surface. Glossy displays are said to provide better color intensity and contrast ratios than those with a matte finish....
.
GameFace Live 2004 Graphics Cards A multi-player audio and video chat solution allowing online gamers to see and talk to each other while playing. As of 2006, it is limited to DirectX
DirectX

Microsoft DirectX is a collection of application programming interfaces for handling tasks related to multimedia, especially game programming and video, on Microsoft platforms....
 games and allows up to eight simultaneous players.
GameLiveShow 2004 Graphics Cards Allows gamers to broadcast
WiFi-AP 2005 Motherboards WiFi AccessPoint module bundled with some motherboards, Notably the P5E3 Deluxe/WiFi-AP@n that includes 802.11n.
Music Alarm 2007 Motherboards BIOS feature makes the computer play music from a CD at a user-defined date.
Q-Connector 2006 Motherboards Front-panel connectors plug into this block. The block is then plugged into the motherboard for easy removal and installation.
Stack Cool 2006 Motherboards The back of the motherboard is designed for optimal heat dissipation of onboard components.
AI Gear 2007 Motherboards Uses adjustable profiles to change CPU frequency and Core voltage to minimize noise and power consumption.
O.C. Profile 2006 Motherboards Allows users to store multiple BIOS settings for distribution or sharing. Settings can be stored in CMOS or as a separate file.
GreenASUS 2006 All Products with this badge comply with the RoHS initiative.


Environmental record


Green ASUS

Officially launched in 2000, Green ASUSis the name of ASUS’ company-wide sustainable computing initiative. It is overseen by a steering committee led by Jonney Shih, the Chairman of ASUSTek Computer Inc. Green ASUS pursues what the company calls the "Four Green Home Runs", namely: Green Design, Green Procurement, Green Manufacturing, and Green Service and Marketing.

Green ASUS measures

  • Green ASUS currently restricts 37 hazardous substances, 31 more than the 6 stipulated by RoHS.
  • ASUS notebooks are designed to be Energy Star compliant. Currently, over 50 ASUS notebooks are Energy Star certified.
  • In 2005, ASUS launched Taiwan’s first GPMS (Green Product Management System) IT platform.
  • In 2006, ASUS became the first computer manufacturer in Taiwan to develop an easy-to-reuse and easy-to-recycle end-of-life green design system.
  • In September 2006, ASUS initiated a free takeback program for all ASUS-manufactured products in the USA.


Recognition

In 2006, ASUS obtained IECQ (IEC Quality Assessment System for Electronic Components) HSPM (Hazardous Substance Process Management) certification for its headquarters and all of its manufacturing sites.

In 2007, ASUS was recognized as a "highly environmental friendly company" in the Computers and Peripherals Industry by Oekom research AG, an independent research institute specializing in corporate responsibility assessment.

In October 2008, ASUS received 11 EPEAT (Electronic Product Environmental Assessment Tool) Gold Awards for its products , including four of its N Series notebooks, namely the N10, N20, N50 and N80. In the following month, it received EU Flower certification for the same N Series notebooks at an award ceremony held in Prague. In December 2008, these notebooks were conferred the world’s first EuP (Energy-using Product) certification for portable notebooks by Det Norske Veritas.

Corporate Social Responsibility


PC Recycling For A Brighter Future Program

In April 2008, ASUS launched its "PC Recycling for a Brighter Future" program in collaboration with Intel and Tsann Kuen Enterprise. Through this program, more than 1,200 desktop computers, notebooks and CRT/LCD monitors were collected, refurbished and donated to 122 elementary and junior high schools, five aboriginal communities and the Tzu Chi Stem Cell Center.

Controversies


Privacy controversy

It has been discovered ASUS has been selling a number of laptops that contain (on both the physical machine and the recovery media) cracked and pirated software, together with confidential documents from Microsoft
Microsoft

Microsoft Corporation is a multinational corporation computer technology corporation that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of computer software products for computing devices....
 and other organizations, as well as internal documents, and sensitive personal information including CVs. An ASUS spokesperson promised an investigation at "quite a high level", but declined to comment on how the files came to be located on the machines and recovery media.The pirated software is believed to have been accidentally copied over from a flash drive during the unattended installation of Windows Vista, due to a parameter in the "unattend.xml" file on the personal flash drive used to script the installation.

User abandonment controversy

In May of 2008, shortly after Microsoft released Windows XP SP3, users discovered that ASUS's A8N32-SLI Deluxe motherboard was completely incompatible with that major OS update, causing an endless reboot STOP error cycle. For over six months thereafter, ASUS refused to accept responsibility, or provide support of any kind, for this incompatibility, forcing users of this popular motherboard to waste days of uncertainty about the nature of (and how to address) the problem, and requiring users to either restore their OS back to SP2, or purchase a new motherboard. By refusing to support SP3, ASUS thereby tacity refused to guarantee Windows OS compatibility for any of its manufactured components during the entire lifespan of a given Windows platform (in this case, the ubiquitous Windows XP operating system). Finally, on 12/26/2008, after more than six months had elapsed since the issue first came to light in May, ASUS quietly, and without apology, released a beta BIOS update that purportedly fixes the issue (users are urged to only update to this version if their system displays the relevant symptoms). Registered owners who had reported the problem initially have not been advised or notified by ASUS of this BIOS update's availability.

See also

  • List of companies of Taiwan
  • ASUS Eee PC
    ASUS Eee PC

    The ASUS Eee PC is a subnotebook / netbook computer by ASUS and a part of ASUS Eee product family. At the time of its introduction in fall 2007, it was noted for its combination of a light weight, Linux operating system, solid-state drive and relatively low cost....
  • ASUS Media Bus
    Asus Media Bus

    The Asus Media Bus is a proprietary computer bus developed by Asus, which was used on some Socket 7 motherboards in the middle 1990s. It is a combined Peripheral Component Interconnect and Industry Standard Architecture slot....
  • Asus routers
    Asus routers

    ASUSTeK Computer Incorporated makes a series of powerful network routers directly competing with routers from Linksys and Melco.Asus series of routers generally ship with Broadcom chipsets, faster Central processing units, more memory, removable antennas and USB ports for expansion....


External links


  • : WiFi router for the Huawei E220
    Huawei E220

    The Huawei E220 is a Huawei HSDPA access device manufactured by Huawei and notable for using the USB interface .Technically it is a modem, USB and virtual CD-ROM device....
  • [ftp://ftp.asus.com.tw/pub/ ASUS FTP in Taiwan - for the most up-to-date drivers. (Asus does not always update its subsidiary sites (e.g. Germany) in a timely fashion, so check here)]