Which i truly believe and understand.. but..
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Laptop Magazine spoke with HTC CEO Peter Chou about handsets and platforms. One of the topics was about HTC's first UMPC, HTC Shift and Asus Eee PC.
When asked if HTC sees Eee PC as their competitor, Peter Chou said:
"I don’t consider them as a competitor. We don’t want to compete with them as we are in a different segment. We are primarily looking at the prosumer or mobile professionals. Our strategy is to align more with the mobile operators."
If we look at HTC's and Asus's marketing on these two devices, they really look different. But if we put them side by side and to actual use, there is not that much difference after all.
Yes, there are huge differences on the hw and sw side, Shift has all the bells and whistles and Eee runs Linux... but new Eee's will have Windows .. and we might not need bells on mobile computers.
What most prosumers or mobile professionals need is a robust system to access information. Storing company data on a mobile device is very dangerous. More and more companies are just accessing their data and applications tru Internet. 
Cloud computing, server based mobility and central management are the methods in use. For that kind of use, Eee PC is actually better as it has robust flash drive, good user friendly and common design and far better battery life. Yes, Eee lacks internal HSDPA, but you can get free modem from your operator or use it with your mobile phone.
So what about operators? "Our strategy is to align more with the mobile operators"
That is exactly what Asus is doing. There are all ready many operator deals with Eee PC and HSDPA modems. Subsidising 1300 euro device or 400 euro device can make a big difference on operators decisions.
So.. HTC doesn't want to compete with Asus Eee PC... I don't think Asus is asking if they want or not.
I waited for the Shift for a long time. I thought about buying it many times. But the bottom line on professional mobile computing is that you need to have minimum weaknesses with maximum usability. For me, the Asus Eee PC was just the right amount of those features, with the added bonus of a very good price.
So.. HTC.. Asus Eee PC competes with Shift. Like it or not.
Laptop Magazine with Peter Chou
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Wednesday, March 19, 2008
HTC doesn't want to compete with Asus Eee PC
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4 comments:
Two things...
1] Nice posting. I agree. HTC should be careful.
2] I can't believe you typed that much... you NEVER type that much! Did Chippy put you up to this? WOW! :-)
Well done.
I could not agree more. That's exactly how I see it as well. Also even redfly has a good change in corporate users to go against shift, based on same arguments.
About JKK typing so long posts lately. Funny I say, I was thinking the same thing when listening the latest podcast, JKK arguing for a need to have a keyboard - a.k.a "the man that rarely types more than a headline"
Of course they don't want to compete with Asus. HTC likes selling these thing for 1500 dollars. Asus is selling Eee Pcs at a quarter of that.
If I was in HTC's position, I wouldn't want to compete with Asus either. Unfortunately, I don't think they have much choice in the matter.
Isn't that the same discussion like "why should anyone buy a Flybook, P1610/1620, LG C1/P100, Vaio TZ, ..." if they can get an Eee PC (or some cheap €899,00 noname 11" laptop) instead? Obviously, having a "low-end" device like the Eee Pc available will make some people reconsider whether they really need the features of the "bigger, better" machine ad in that sense they do compete. But this does not only apply to the Shift and it only means people should really consider theitr choices and buy what they really want and need. The Eee Pc certainly has one advantage: Beacause of its cheap price people who buy it, use it for a week, discover that it doesn't work for them and have it collect dust from that point on will not bitch about it as much on any forums as somebody who has just dished out €1000+ for a Sift and learns that the battery life doesn't work for him or that this HTC device does not make calls ...
In that sense I would rather see the above mentioned other "expensive" devices as the competition HTC has to worry about.
Comparable UMPCs (Q1U, R2E, OQO e2, Sony) are also all in the same price range (or even more expensive) and often enough offer less.
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