WASHINGTON: Asustek Computer is aiming to ship 30 million smartphones in 2016 and become a worldwide top-10 smartphone vendor. To achieve the goal, India, Brazil, Russia and Africa will become major targeting markets for Asustek in 2016, according to sources from market watchers.
The sources pointed out that worldwide smartphone shipments were less than 1.3 billion units in 2015, only a growth of around 10% on year and with the growth in 2016 expected to be even weaker, Asustek will need to push more aggressively into emerging markets for growth.
Asustek shipped 20.5 million smartphones in 2015, up from 8.5 million in 2014. In Indonesia, Asustek is planning to raise its shipments from 3.5 million units in 2015 to five million in 2016 and for Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand Asustek is looking to ship five million ZenFone smartphones combined in 2016. This means that Asustek will have one third of its shipment goal contributed by Southeast Asia countries.
As for Brazil, Asustek is mainly outsourcing its ZenFone orders to Foxconn Electronics’ (Hon Hai Precision Industry) plants in Brazil due to the country’s high custom. Asustek shipped around one million units in 2015 in Brazil and is aiming to ship three million units in 2016. Asustek may also have a chance to become a top-five smartphone vendor in 2016.
In India, Asustek shipped around three million smartphones and is estimated to ship at least four million units in 2016. Asustek currently has about 70% of its smartphones made by Foxconn’s plants in India as the India government raised its import custom for handsets in early 2015,
As for Russia, which has strong demand for mid-range and entry-level smartphones, Asustek has already prepared to compete against Lenovo, Huawei and TCL. As for Africa, Asustek is currently trying to understand the market’s demand via local distributors and is hoping to achieve over 500,000 shipments in 2016.
Asustek shipped two million smartphones in Taiwan in 2015 and is expected to ship about the same in 2016. With Japan’s SIM-free smartphone shipments expected to have grown 60% on year to reach 1.35 million units in 2015 and to grow further to 1.85 million units in 2016, Asustek’s smartphone shipments in Japan are also expected to enjoy growth. As for China, Asustek is aiming to ship over three million units to be able to achieve its goal for 2016.
