Apple Forces Pegatron to Drop Asus Ultrabook
Apple Forces Pegatron to Drop Asus Ultrabook
Posted 02/13/2012 at 7:33pm
| by Ryan Whitwam
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Apple is famous for its stranglehold on supply chains all over the world, and it’s now exerting influence with it. According to a report from the Chinese Commercial Times, Apple has forced ODM Pegatron to stop manufacturing the Asus Zenbook Ultrabook or risk losing its iOS device contract. It was a no-contest for Pegatron, which will be ceasing its Zenbook production by the end of March.
This isn’t necessarily a sign of things to come, though. Cupertino-based Apple was apparently a little hot under the collar because the Zenbook bears a striking resemblance to the MacBook Air. Although, going forward we can imagine a lot of Ultrabooks getting more Mac-like. Pegatron was in a particularly tight spot as it just landed the iPhone contract and it would have been very costly to lose the business at this early stage.
Pegatron has deals to build a number of other Windows-based systems, but no word on Apple strong-arming them over those. Do you think Apple will continue to lean on Chinese device manufacturers?
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Century22
February 16, 2012 at 11:17am
"Do you think Apple will continue to lean on Chinese device manufacturers?"
I thought Apples were MADE in China.
They need to build their Products to compete, without the political strong arm tactics.
Drew7
February 15, 2012 at 12:20pm
Apple F*CKING SUCKS since Jobs has died; Suing companies left and right. Trying to STOP INNOVATION (something Jobs was clearly against). It's like as soon as the ol' man died, the hounds were let loose. And I'm sure Jobs would be DISGUSTED.~Drew
Danno25002
February 15, 2012 at 3:50pm
Hasn't Apple been doing this h0rse$h!t since long before Jobs kicked it? Apple has always been pseudo-tyrannical F*CKS.
livebriand
February 14, 2012 at 7:57pm
I was thinking about buying an ipod touch or a similar sort of device running Android, and it looks like Crapple just lost a sale from me. There's competition out there, and you have to deal with it, ok guys?
pratesh
February 14, 2012 at 6:32pm
I look forward to seeing the DOJ step in. Apple will surely lose in the Public's Opinion.
Hey.That_Dude
February 14, 2012 at 1:37pm
This is such crap. If everyone drops Apple then they're screwed. They keep doing this stuff and people might notice and flip the "gun." That's what's bad about blackmail.
yu119995
February 14, 2012 at 12:08pm
Holy shit. I'm pretty sure that's anti-competitive. Don't work with the enemy or else.
Danno25002
February 15, 2012 at 3:48pm
Pegatron is a Chinese company. Does China have anti-competitive laws?
biggiebob12345
February 14, 2012 at 1:06pm
Yeah Apple is just begging for a regulatory smack down with this. Unless they can cite a legit reason like Pegatron producing the Asus product would affect their ability to produce the Apple product then they really don't have legs to stand on.
chipmunkofdoom2
February 14, 2012 at 6:53am
This cycle has repeated itself and will continue to repeat itself as long as Apple exists.
First, it was the Apple computer.. Microsoft copied the GUI (which Steve Wozniak, one of the founding fathers of Apple, plainly admits he wouldn't call that stealing) and Apple tries to take them down.. and fails. Apple creates the iPod and iPhone and tries to take down Android for copying them.. after all, in Steve Jobs' biography, he flat out said he would spend every cent that Apple had destroying Android.. well, he's dead, but even if his company tried to carry on his legacy, they would not succeed. Apple tried to sue Samsung for a Galaxy phone looking similar to the iPhone, but failed. Now, Apple created the Macbook Air, a pretty good looking piece of hardware, if I as not the biggest Apple fan may say so myself.. other manufacturers copy their tech, and instead of innovating and offering something new, Apple pouts and throws a tantrum.
That's basically Apple's business model.. create new technology, charge out the ass for it, and enjoy the ride. What surprises me though is that Apple still does not seem to understand that they can only do that for so long before competitors are able to produce something comparable or better and charge less for it. They always have a hissy fit when that happens.. if you want to charge top dollar for your tech, you need to keep innovating and coming out with new things. Otherwise, your tech is going to be copied and sold for cheaper.. that's how this economy works.
tugboat_2
February 14, 2012 at 11:24am
Here's a question/s.
When was the last time "Apple" actually "innovated" any technology used in any computer today?
Please don't include software in your answer. The only software I would actually consider fundamental enough to be included would be the operating system. And all of the current OS's have their own pro's and con's. When you get right down to it, none are any more secure than the other.
So, lets see, what would be Apple's "innovative" technology contributions actually in common use today?
USB
PCI
Hard Drives
SSD's
Monitor's
Video cards
SATA
Thunderbolt (oh excuse me that is actually Light Peak by Intel Apple just wanted their name on it so
they can make the dupes think they invented it)
Memory technologies, dram, sdram, vdram, etcI could well be wrong, being a layman, so to speak, but I don't think Apple "innovated" any of the above.
acidic
February 14, 2012 at 12:36pm
you are 1000% correct about "thunderbolt." its gonna be all the rage and youre not hip if your laptop dont have it. im about to go leave more innovation in my toilet than apple ever has or will.
Gezzer
February 13, 2012 at 10:43pm
Apple's keeps getting more and more heavy handed.
I'm sure there's a lot of companies who are looking forward to the day Apple makes a costly misstep. It may take awhile but it will happen. Then Apple will see just how many people will be lined up to p@ss in their corn flakes when they're no longer top dog.
It'll be a interesting thing to witness.
neatuser
February 13, 2012 at 10:34pm
Oh apple, you almost had me. We were slowly becoming a Win-apple family, but then I started reading up on the Chinese laborers you have slaving for you and now this. How could anyone in good conscience support you.
You guys are a bunch o A-holes.
wolf17
February 13, 2012 at 9:50pm
Yeah Intel got slammed for doing something similar in blocking OEMs from using AMD, yet somehow I bet everyone will be just fine with Apple doing it and nothing will happen to them >.>
Gezzer
February 13, 2012 at 10:36pm
The Intel/ AMD thing was a bit different.
Intel was offering co-op advertising funds to OEMs but would pull them if they also used AMD CPUs. It was actually nothing more then a thinly disguised kick back scheme, which is illegal.In this case even though it's a dirty tactic if Apple's manufacturing contract has a conflict of interest clause it's legal to invoke it. Then the manufacturer has to decided which contract is more important to them.
jesse_n_sf
February 13, 2012 at 9:24pm
That is extortion and should be prosecuted to the fullest extent of the law.
theabsinthehare
February 13, 2012 at 9:20pm
Why wouldn't they use their influence to stifle their competition? That's kind of how business works.
stradric
February 14, 2012 at 6:27am
Some companies prefer to beat the competition in the marketplace rather than using underhanded tactics like this. Apple is doing both, which is bad for consumers in the end. They're behaving like a monopoly. And while monopoly capitalism is all the rage these days, consumers shouldn't support companies that behave this way.
Wingzero_x
February 14, 2012 at 12:27am
Thanks, good to see somebody actually gets it. This no different than a company that does business with Coca Cola. By contract they are not allowed to do business with any other competitor.
Oh and the poster that blames Apple for what FoxConn is doing...Seriously? Apple just gave them a contract, and has dealt with them quite harshly to bring up their standards. Also so you Foxconn makes a lot of those OEm motherboards for PCs as well.
Engelsstaub
February 14, 2012 at 6:40pm
Don't bother, man. Consider the click-whoring story titles and the crowd MPC panders to these days. If it was a similar Windows story most of their righteous indignation would be nowhere to be seen.
Many of these clowns believe in this fucking stupid Jedi battle between corporations. None of the companies give a rat's ass what they think and I am completely befuddled as to why anyone cares so deeply about big companies suing one another. It doesn't affect them at all, but they've nothing better to rage about.
Exarkun1138
February 13, 2012 at 9:14pm
This is just another example why I will never buy an Apple product. Their heavy-handedness and attitude, along with the smug attitude of their "people" who buy their crap, will keep me from ever having anything with the obnoxious little piece of fruit on it. Screw Apple, their products AND their attitude!
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