ASUS: Malaysians want thin, light laptops with a long battery life, not just fancy gimmicks
ASUS has been on a roll lately, pushing out everything from dual-screen laptops to AI-powered Copilot+ PCs and even showcasing laptops with high-tech exotic materials like Ceraluminum. But with all these innovations, one question remains: are people actually asking for all this?
We recently caught up with HP Li, ASUS Malaysia’s Business Development Manager to talk about how these ideas shape the Zenbook lineup, whether premium features will trickle down to more affordable models, and how the brand is navigating current supply challenges. More importantly, we wanted to know: what do Malaysians really want in a laptop today?
ASUS has introduced a range of new ideas over the years, from dual‑screen laptops to unique materials and form factors. How do these innovations influence the direction of the Zenbook series while still keeping it aligned with what most users look for in a premium everyday laptop?
This is a great question. Innovation is a big part of who we are, but we always want it to feel useful for real people. With things like dual screen laptops, we actually surveyed users to see if it would help their workflow. Around 60% told us they would consider one if it improved productivity, which encouraged us to refine features like ScreenXpert on the 2026 Zenbook DUO so it’s smoother and more intuitive to use.
On materials and form factors, people today want laptops that are thinner, lighter and still durable. That pushed us to explore things like Ceraluminum and lighter thermal solutions, while still keeping long battery life and a full set of ports. For us, the goal is to take bold ideas and shape them into something natural and helpful for everyday use.
We’re seeing a lot of new innovation and upgrades to the premium laptops from ASUS; any news on if these will trickle down to your mainstream everyday laptops soon?
Our premium Zenbook series is currently the focus for delivering a truly next‑generation experience, featuring the latest processors, breakthrough innovations, and elevated craftsmanship.
That said, we’re also committed to bringing next‑gen experiences to more accessible models. For example, we introduced the ASUS Vivobook 16 with the new AMD Ryzen AI 400 Series processors supporting the full suite of ASUS AI and Copilot+ features to bring powerful next-gen AI capabilities to the mainstream segment.
Supply challenges mean the full rollout of next-gen processors across all models might take a bit longer, but just like how we expanded OLED displays and Copilot+ PC capabilities from being exclusively available in our premium series to our entire lineup in the past, users can expect more of these upgrades to come to the rest of the lineup soon.
ASUS’ new lineup of laptops appears to not be too affected by the recent news of memory and storage shortages. How is ASUS Malaysia able to maintain prices during this moment in time?
We proactively plan our product roadmap at both global and local levels to minimize the impact of component shortages by implementing dynamic inventory cycle. Thanks to our close partnerships with key technology vendors such as Intel, AMD, and Qualcomm as well as DRAM suppliers, we are able to mitigate the effects of this situation.
In Malaysia, our team works continuously behind the scenes to communicate with our global counterparts to optimize our inventory. However, as this is still an ongoing situation, we are working really hard to adjust the overall product mix and make price adjustments where necessary. Most importantly, we want to ensure that Malaysians can continue enjoying the latest ASUS innovations, despite all the challenges.
As more and more AI-ready Copilot+ PCs enter the market, how is ASUS continuing to differentiate from the competition?
Differentiation has always been part of ASUS’ DNA. Beyond adopting next‑gen processors, we invest heavily in our own hardware and software innovations to elevate the entire experience.
On the software side, we offer solutions like StoryCube, an AI‑powered media management tool that helps users automatically identify, organize, and search their photos and videos with ease. In hardware, our unique cooling solutions allow for higher sustained TDPs, meaning the same processors used by competitors can perform better and longer in ASUS laptops.
We also push the boundaries of materials engineering. Ceraluminum took our team four painstaking years to refine, delivering the stone-like feel and unique nature-inspired hues that clearly set our Zenbooks apart from the competition. Apart from its unique tactility and colors, Ceraluminum is also three times tougher and 30% lighter than conventional aluminum. With these properties, we managed to design the Zenbook A16, a 16-inch laptop that’s as light as most 14-inch models at just 1.2kg.
These combined innovations ensure that ASUS Copilot+ PCs stand out not just in performance, but also in craftsmanship, design, and everyday user experience.
With work from home (WFH) and hybrid arrangements becoming a long term norm, do you still see strong demand for ultraportable laptops, or are user priorities shifting in a different direction?
Even with more people working from home, we see a strong demand for ultraportables. People are moving between rooms, working from cafés, travelling for meetings or splitting time between home and the office. So they still want something light that adapts easily.
Our latest Zenbook and Vivobook S models are built for that. You get up to 32 hours of battery life, brighter OLED displays and better AI-powered webcams and microphones, all in ultralight bodies that still meet military grade durability. And if someone needs even more flexibility, the Zenbook DUO lets them bring a full dual screen setup anywhere.
So yes, the demand is very strong. Hybrid work has simply expanded what people expect from an ultraportable, and we are designing our products around those expectations.
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