History
Asus was founded in Taipei in 1989 by T.H. Tung, Ted Hsu, Wayne Hsieh and M.T. Liao, all four having previously worked at Acer as computer engineers.
In the early 2000s, Taiwan-based motherboard manufacturers had not yet established their leading positions in the computer-hardware business. Intel Corporation would supply any new processors to more established companies like IBM first, and the Taiwanese companies would have to wait for approximately six months after IBM received their engineering prototypes. As of 2009, Asus receives Intel engineering samples ahead of its competitors.
In January 2007, Asus started restructuring its operations. The company split into three distinct operational units: Asus, Pegatron and the Unihan Corporation. The Asus brand was applied solely to first-party branded computers. Pegatron handled OEM manufacturing of motherboards and components, and the Unihan Corporation focused on non-PC manufacturing such as cases and molding. In January 2008, Pegatron acquired the Unihan Corporation as a subsidiary from Asus.
In the process of restructuring, the highly criticized pension-plan restructuring effectively zeroed out the existing pension balances. The company paid out all contributions previously made by employees.
On 9 December 2008, the Open Handset Alliance announced that Asus had become one of 14 new members of the organization. These "new members will either deploy compatible Android devices, contribute significant code to the Android Open Source Project, or support the ecosystem through products and services that will accelerate the availability of Android-based devices."
In October 2010 Asus and Garmin announced that they would be ending their smartphone partnership as a result of Garmin deciding to exit the product category. The two companies had produced six Garmin-Asus branded smartphones over the prior two years.
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