After 25 years of leading from the front, Asus CEO Jerry Shen has decided to step down. The announcement comes after a major shift in strategy in the way Asus will function from here on. From January 1, 2019, Asus will be led by two CEOs, each handling two different aspects of the company. SY Hsu will lead Asus' PC business while Samson Hu will take care of customer care services. The board of directors at Taiwan's most valuable international brand considers a co-leadership structure essential to achieve its goals and compete with rivals. The change in leadership comes months after Asus announced a change in its smartphone strategy in mid-November. As per the new strategy, Asus will focus on making specialised smartphones aimed primarily at gamers and power-users, instead of launching phones for the mainstream audiences. The shift means the company now wants to cater to a growing percentage of professional mobile gamers, something similar to what the company is already doing with the Asus ROG phone. Furthermore, it will make phones for 'power' users who currently do not have much choice in the market. What that entails for the consumers is something we will see in 2019. The company will also take a NT$6.2 billion loan to cover losses from advance royalties, inventories and various other costs and expenditures incurred by the shift in strategy. The shift could also affect the company's profitability next year and as such, the continuation of current lineups of phone including the popular Zenfone lineup remains under question. Answering to queries, Asus released a statement assuring buyers of Zenfone smartphones saying, "With regard to the doubts raised by some on the continuation of the ZenFone brand, we confirm that we will continue to develop the ZenFone series, while also aiming to expand the gaming smartphone market. We will focus on perfecting solutions for gamers and power users." The Zenfone lineup of 2018 was quite successful for Asus. The Zenfone Max Pro M1 and the Zenfone 5z remains popular in e-commerce sites and Asus even followed it up with the Zenfone Max Pro M2 earlier this month. However, it could be argued that Asus has so far been quite orthodox in its offering. The company took the tried and tested method of packing smartphones with features and high-end hardware while keeping the prices down, an easier way of selling phones. The shift in the strategy could mean that Asus is more willing to experiment and come out with devices that are unique and cater to users who don't have much choice when it comes to buying a smartphone. The ROG phone is a good example of that strategy. It's a unique gamer-centric design, high-end hardware and accessories redefined mobile gaming hardware. The new strategy might normalise it and take it to the next level. Mr. Shen will go on to lead a new AI IoT startup called iFast where Asus will have a 30% stake. Under his tenure, Asus introduced successful product lineups like the Vivobook, ZenBook, Zenfone, etc. He is also credited for splitting Asus into three different companies in 2008, shortly after becoming CEO -- Asus for the company's branded products, Pegatron for contract manufacturing of various electronics and Unihan for manufacturing various non-PC products under contract.
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