Asus Planning to Buy Toshiba or Merge With It?

Asustek Computer Inc., the Taiwan based PC maker, has plans of acquiring or merging with Toshiba. Reports from the Chinese Commercial Times, Asus’ chairman, Jonney Shih has revealed about talks being held between the companies for the possible acquisition or merger.

Earlier this year, Asus had announced that they are aiming at becoming the third largest laptop makers by 2011.

Currently, Asus ranks seventh in the world, with HP taking the lead, followed by Acer, Dell, Lenovo, and Toshiba. If the takeover happens, the Asus-Toshiba pair will be pushed to the number 3 position. Dell has thus got some watching out to do.

Windows 7 OS is supposed to be a booster to increase sales figures. Currently, 30% of the EEE PCs have adopted Microsoft’s new OS. In 2010, this percentage is expected to rise to 80%.  Asus’ CEO, Jerry Shen had earlier mentioned that they expect global notebook sales to increase from 140 million in 2009 to 180-190 million in the following year. Moreover, if the takeover/merger does happen, speculations are that the combined sales will touch 30 million in 2011, shooting the company into the third place.