Computex 2024 is bigger than ever, with 1,500 tech companies showcasing their products at 4,500 booths. However, it’s hard to get past the one central theme dominating the event: artificial intelligence. The tech show, which opened on Tuesday, will be marked by announcements about artificial intelligence, with semiconductor giants Nvidia and AMD kicking things off by unveiling new artificial intelligence chips at back-to-back keynote presentations in Taipei. The focus is on AI computing, especially since Computex comes just days after Microsoft unveiled its new Copilot+ line of AI-powered PCs.
On Monday, Microsoft OEM partner Asus unveiled its first AI-enabled Copilot+ laptops powered by AMD’s latest Ryzen AI 9 HX 370 processor and detailed its plans to integrate AI into every aspect of its business at Computex. However, a day before the company announced its new line of AI PCs, Asus unveiled the ROG Ally X, an updated version of its portable gaming PC released last year. The company’s latest portable device has twice the battery size of the Asus ROG Ally, more storage and memory, and a host of other tweaks and improvements over the original.
The Asus ROG Ally is one of the few gaming PDAs officially launched in India, a market where the Taiwanese company has grown to become a leader in the gaming PC segment. The updated ROG Ally X will also arrive in India later this year.
At least that’s what Asus is planning, according to Arnold Su, the company’s vice president of consumer and gaming PCs in the country. Gadgets 360 caught up with Su after Monday’s Asus launch event on the sidelines of Computex to discuss new PDAs, AI computers and more.
Asus ROG Ally X at Computex 2024
“As a company, we don’t want to just sell a box. We want to sell technology,” said Su, speaking about Asus’ decision to bring the ROG Ally to the Indian market. The laptop debuted in India in July 2023, just two months after its global launch. “We want to bring all the latest technologies to every country, not just India.”
According to him, Asus is ready to test customer perception and demand for its new products. A secondary question is whether Indian gamers are ready to embrace a dedicated handheld gaming device; First, the company must be bold enough to show its latest technology to potential customers. “If I don’t show, I’ll never know if it’s marketable,” Su said.
In a market dominated by mobile gaming, dedicated gaming devices and consoles are leaving a small footprint in India. The burgeoning handheld sector remains even more niche. Segment leaders Nintendo Switch and Valve’s Steam Deck, though available online, are not officially sold in India, and the two companies have no plans to change that anytime soon.
The Lenovo Legion Go debuted in September last year but is still stuck in the “coming soon” phase in the Indian market. The MSI Claw A1M, on the other hand, was launched in India in March, but availability remains an issue.
Asus, however, doesn’t believe in waiting. Su said that the company’s speed in shipping its latest products to India has made it the number two consumer PC segment and the number one gaming PC segment in the country. “It is time to enter the market. If you look at the last five years, whenever the latest technology comes out, be it CPU or GPU, we will always be the first or the second to make the product available in India,” he said.
The ROG Ally X also follows Asus’ approach to releasing gaming PCs in a variety of form factors. According to Su, when it comes to gaming-focused devices, companies initially only talked about performance. “You see, we’re the first company to release a 2-in-1 gaming laptop, our Rog Flow X13. And we are the first company to release a detachable gaming laptop, our Z13. And in our form factor, we have the Zephyrus for thin and light (notebooks), we have the Strix, we have the Strix Scar. So for gamers, even for the gaming market, it’s not just powerful gaming machines (that’s important); these are different segments. And we guarantee that we can be present in each of the segments,” Su said.
Asus’ Arnold Su says ROG Ally should arrive in India sometime in 2024
Photo: Asus
Asus has really made its presence felt in the gaming handheld segment. While no official sales figures are available, as of January 2024, the ROG Ally has reportedly sold around 70,000-80,000 units in India since its launch last year. “In the initial stage, sales were really good, but then they went back to normal,” Su said. “The main reason is that when a customer comes to our store, they still want to buy a gaming device, and for a well-educated customer, they already have their first device. They can spend the money to buy a second device. ROG Ally will still be treated as a second device.”
Customers looking to buy their first gaming device want the right gaming machine, Su said. And for the price range of the ROG Ally, they can get a gaming laptop from Asus’ TUF series. But the answer to the niche device that debuted in India with a price tag of Rs. 69,990 probably bodes well for its successor, the ROG Ally X. And it helps that the latest iteration of the PDA betters its predecessor in almost every way on paper. It still runs Windows 11 and is powered by AMD Ryzen Z1 Extreme’s Zen 4 platform, but it packs a much larger 80Wh battery, 24GB of RAM (compared to 16GB in the standard ROG Ally), and 1TB of storage SSD storage (with 512 GB). ). These updates also raise the price of the PDA by about $100 to $799.
While there is no firm launch date or local pricing, the ROG Ally X should arrive in India later this year. When the laptop is launched in India, it is likely to be available at 270 Asus stores in the country, each of which will display the original ROG Ally for customers to touch and feel before they decide to buy it. According to Su, it was Asus’ first intention to showcase the technology, even if it is too niche. “It doesn’t matter if they want to buy or don’t want to buy,” Su said. “At least they’ll know Asus has these products.”
