Many tech companies are feeling the pinch from the tariffs that have been and will be imposed on them by the US government. Especially since the products they sell are typically manufactured in Chinese factories, which are expected to receive higher tariffs soon.
ASUS has long been aware of this and has been slowly moving manufacturing of technology products and gaming accessories developed for the US market from China to several countries in Southeast Asia.
According to a report by PC Gamer, ASUS appears to have moved manufacturing of PC components such as motherboards and graphics cards to countries such as Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand. ASUS recently announced through their investor call that 90 percent of the manufacturing of products has been completed and has been transferred to these countries recently.
This is because there are electronic components that could be subject to tariffs as high as 145 percent in the future, although for now the tariffs are postponed until the next few months. When it takes effect, ASUS will be forced to sell products brought into the market at very high prices.
Companies like AMD and NVIDIA have been exempted from these high tariffs due to their importance to the US government, but for other companies, the tariffs imposed on the entry of semiconductor-related products into the country are seen as affecting the sales and profits of many technology companies.
ASUS in particular not only makes computer equipment, but also has a series of smart devices ASUS ROG Phone which is also sold in the US. This, together with the various other semiconductor chips used in their devices and components, is likely to cause the prices of products sold in the market to become more expensive.