Asus has big ambitions for enterprise; can it drive disruption in B2B space [Interview]

Asus is stepping up its game in the PC segment and by foraying into the enterprise segment two years ago, the company has set its foot into the door for something really big. For the B2B industry, Asus is fairly new and gets pitted against giants like HP, Dell, and Lenovo. But the last two years have been eventful for this Taiwanese tech giant, as it has made strides to leave a mark in the industry.

As it aims to strengthen its position in the enterprise space, Asus launched six new laptops - all part of its ExpertBook portfolio. The new laptops try to offer everything a corporate user would need and there's one for everyone with varying budgets.

"The powerful laptops feature class-leading performance, security, battery life, fast charging, robust connectivity with up to 5G LTE, Fast Wi-Fi 6, Two-way AI noise cancelation, all packed in lightweight premium body with military-grade plus durability," Asus said about its newly-launched laptops in India.

Dinesh Sharma, Business Head, Commercial PC and Smartphone, System Business Group, ASUS India, gave a demonstration of all the new products, namely ExpertBooks B5, B7, B2, B3, B9 and B14.

"With ASUS Expert Series, we empower business leaders and their organizations to work at their maximum potential to achieve their Vision. We passionately strive to equip our Business Focussed Expert Series Laptops with Cutting Edge Performance, Security, Endurance, Connectivity and Ease of Use Functionality in a lightweight and compact form factor to make them the perfect work tool. The ExpertBook laptops and associated services and solutions have been designed and built to offer the classic ASUS' design thinking led Incredible Experience," an elated Sharma said.

International Business Times had the opportunity to get a brief hands-on experience with all the new laptops during the product briefing in Bengaluru. Clearly, Asus has touched upon the core of the enterprise aspect by offering its feature-packed laptops. In fact, it is exactly this attention to detail that has led Asus to grow multi-fold in the enterprise sector in the last two years though its market share remains comparatively low, Sharma told IBTimes.

From service to security and a robust product portfolio, Asus seems to understand the pulse of the enterprise sector and it is bringing about a disruption in the market. It has more than 20 products developed for commercial consumers in just two years, which gives the brand an edge.

The philosophies

Asus has an in-depth understanding of core technologies as it already has prowess in multiple categories right from laptops to smartphones, graphic cards and motherboards. Asus uses this with "Design Thinking" philosophy to cater to the exact needs of the customer.

"We are coming here to change the status quo. We are coming here to bring in the quintessential Asus way of looking at things and design thinking, which we have already done in consumer and gaming and are very successful," Sharma told us.

Asus understands there's a lot more required for a business customer, be it life-cycle management and complex working environments (security, custom OS, different apps).

"We want to become the best brand choice in commercial PC," Sharma said revealing Asus' plan to achieve that by pushing the envelope on cutting-edge technologies, high-degree of trust-worthy quality, and solution-oriented design.

Sharma says Asus has four key aspects that constitute the DNA of its Expert series:

1. Meaningful innovation
2. Reliability that exceeds military standards
3. Flexibility (customisations tailored to specific user et all)
4. Security

Notably, Asus products are environmentally-friendly. Business customers buying and using Asus products are addressing environmental issues, which are much more relevant today than ever.

Customer comes first

Asus takes pride in after-sales service, which is ISO9001 certified and 230 centers strong. But as Sharma spoke about the new products, he also mentioned that enterprise customers get best-in-class service. It includes a dedicated hotline toll-free number operational from 9AM to 9PM, Monday through Saturday. There's also cam support for certain large customers as well, where a key account manager on the service site is available for assistance.

Asus also offers different service packs as well, which like the products are highly customisable. Customers also get international warranty on laptops and when the warranty is extended, the adaptor is also covered in it.

Commitment towards India

Speaking to IBTimes, Sharma said Asus is committed to India's Make in India initiative. In fact, its desktop PCs for enterprise and consumers are already fully manufactured in Bengaluru. As for the laptops, Sharma said: "let's wait and watch" hinting at related announcements in time to come.

Take a look at the key specifications of the new enterprise-exclusive laptop range by Asus:

ExperBook B5 & B5 Flip

1. 12^th Gen Core i7 P-series 28W high-performance processor
2. Thunderbolt 4, Iris Xe graphics
3. Up to 40 GB of fast DDR5 RAM
4. WiFi 6
5. Support for two SSDs, up to 2TB
6. 14-inch screen with Full-HD resolution and anti-glare coating
7. Built-in noise-cancelling microphones,
8. ASUS NumberPad
9. Stepless convertible hinge system with a touch enabled display for B5 Flip
10. Thunderbolt 4, triple 4K display output, microSD card reader, Ethernet port, USB Type-A, HDMI output, full-size metal RJ-45 Ethernet port

ExpertBook B7 Flip

1. 12th Gen Intel Core™ i7 28-watt P-series high-performance processor
2. Up to 64GB of fast DDR5 RAM
3. Intel Iris Xe graphics
4. 5G support, WiFi 6
5. 14" QHD+ (2560 x 1600) anti-glare touchscreen
6. Fingerprint sensor integrated into power button

ExpertBook B2

1. 14-inch/15.6-inch display and flip/clamshell options
2. 12th Generation IntelCore vPro processors
3. Customizable between 12^th generation Intel i3 – i7 processors
4. 2 x SO-DIMM
5. Total memory up to 64 GB DDR4 3200 MHz
6. IR HD webcam with face recognition; smart card reader; backlit keyboard featuring the ergonomic ASUS SensePoint pointing nub; hardware TMP 2.0 chip
7. ASUS AI noise-cancelling technology

ExpertBook B3 Flip

1. 12th Gen Intel Core i7 CPU
2. 14" screen with TÜV Rheinland-certification
3. 360° any-position hinge
4. Optional garaged stylus
5. Two-way AI noise-cancelling technology

ExpertBook B9

1. 12^th generation up to Intel Core i7 processor with Iris Xe graphics
2. 32 GB LPDDR5 5200 MHz memory
3. Wi-Fi 6
4. Storage up to dual 2 TB SSDs, support from RAID 0 and RAID 1 technology
5. 14-inch NanoEdge display
6. Trusted Platform Module (TPM) chip
7. 66 Wh battery
8. Harman Kardon-certified speakers
9. ASUS NumberPad 2.0
10. Amazon Alexa integration

ExpertBook B14

1. 12^th-generation Intel Core i7 processor
2. Up to 48 GB of RAM, hybrid SSD + HDD storage support
3. 1 TB Gen 4 SSD, a spacious 2 TB HDD
4. Thunderbolt 4, USB 3.2 Gen 2 Type-A, USB 2.0, HDMI, LAN, microSD, and audio combo jack
5. DisplayPort support via through USB-C, HDMI, legacy VGA D-Sub
6. Support connection of up to two external 4K UHD displays
7. Two-way AI noise-canceling technology