“We might have offered too many models because of our competitive engineering culture,” Mr. Shih said, adding that the company won’t repeat this mistake. This year, Asustek plans to release three new versions.

Aside from competitiveness, another reason cited for this rapid pace of release makes sense: Asus realized that customers weren’t really going for the original Eee’s relatively miniscule keyboard and lack of hard drive.

In any case, the WSJ story relates a classic tale. A small company strikes gold with a big innovation, then struggles to keep up as competitors with more clout start establishing themselves within the same market (Can anyone say “Internet Explorer”?). But Asus won’t go down fighting, and if Jonney Shih and co. continue displaying the inventiveness that led to the Eee, I don’t think Asus’ future in the market they created looks bad.

Post from: The Gadget Blog