Asus admits big global Eee supply-demand imbalance

Only 30 per cent of customers able to buy one

By Tony Smith • Get more from this author

26th March 2008 14:07 GMT

Asus has claimed that it's only able to sell one Eee PC for around every three people that want one. That's the worldwide supply-demand deficit - in Taiwan, it's able to satisfy 50 per cent of potential Eee customers.

The statistic comes from Asus VP Kevin Lin by way of DigiTimes, which focused on Lin's statement that the 8.9in Eee PC 900 will begin shipping in the May/June timeframe - round about the time of Taiwan's Computex computer show, interestingly enough.

Asus Eee PC and friend: able to satisfy only 30 per cent of potential customers

Lin said the desktop Eee, known as the E-DT, should go on sale at the same time, priced at around $199 (£99/€127). The Eee PC 900 will cost the equivalent of $500 (£250/€320).

The VP indicated Asus hopes to sell 5m Eee PCs this year, pushing 650,000 to 700,000 units through retail each quarter.

The hold-up in demand arises from a slow-down in battery shipments, he said, the result of a fire at an LG Chem factory earlier this month. That echoes a claim made by Asus CEO Jerry Shen earlier this month that battery supply issues were limiting the company's ability to ramp up Eee production.