While the Indian PC market grew by 10.1 per cent year-over-year in Q3 2025, with shipments reaching 4.9 million units, and Q4 results are expected to follow this trajectory, it is the next fiscal that will prove to be an interesting one. With DRAM shortages and a corresponding hike in prices, PCs are bound to face price changes. What remains to be seen is whether companies bear the brunt themselves or let the customers do the lifting.
Asus has been a consistently performing name in the Indian PC market, with its operations spanning across various verticals, including desktops, laptops, gaming handhelds, and monitors. On that note, we approached Arnold Su, Asus India’s Vice President, Consumer and Gaming PC, System Business Group, to capture his perspective on the matter, along with the company’s plans for India in 2026. In this interaction, Su offers insights into Asus’s approach to tackling 2026, the rising demand for premium AI PCs, the roadmap for the company’s popular Republic of Gamers arm, and much more. Here are the excerpts.
The recent IDC data is headline-grabbing: AI notebooks grew 126.5 per cent YoY in India. However, a closer look shows that 85.9 per cent of these were Basic AI PC models, largely driven by aggressive discounts and cashbacks. As the VP of Consumer business, how do you view this split? Is the Indian consumer actually buying into the 'AI promise,' or are they simply buying good laptops that happen to have basic AI features because the price is right?
Arnold: To answer this question, I will start with a simple analogy, something that we have often used when describing the AI PC phenomenon. AI PCs will have a similar growth trajectory and acceptance like that of smartphones- what I mean by this is that when the first smartphone was introduced, we would only use it for basic functionalities like texting and calling.
Over the years, with technology evolving and functionalities being introduced, smartphones have become a necessity and a norm. Similarly, the use cases of AI PCs will continue to evolve, making every PC an AI PC in the future.
Customers are increasingly investing in high-performance and reliable devices, driving demand for AI-enabled PCs. ASUS was among the first brands to introduce AI PCs in India, marking an early leadership position in this emerging category. Currently, ASUS holds 18 to 20 per cent share of the AI PC segment in India, one of the largest among competitors.
From an industry point of view, the share of AI PCs in overall sales is expected to rise to 10 to 15 per cent this year, with festive season sales projected to push this number even higher. AI PCs are becoming a key growth segment in India’s PC market, supported by both consumer awareness and hardware innovation.
With Next-Generation AI notebooks crossing the 100,000-unit shipment mark for the first time, we are seeing a shift. How do you plan to migrate your user base from these discount-driven 'basic models' to the more premium Next-Gen devices in the coming year without relying solely on price cuts?
Arnold: Our business and product strategy for 2026 is centred on extending a premium experience to our customers, anchored in purposeful design, cutting-edge technology, and human-centric innovation. We aim to bring this ethos to life across our portfolio by blending performance with aesthetics, ensuring every device, from Zenbook to ProArt, reflects meticulous craftsmanship and intelligent design.
As we drive penetration in the Copilot+ PC category, technology becomes the bridge to premium, enabling intuitive, AI-powered workflows for professionals, creators, and gamers alike.
For ASUS, premium is not just a price point; it’s a promise of delivering solutions that truly understand and adapt to the needs of our users. When the gaming ecosystem was DIY-ing their setups, we pioneered dedicated gaming PC solutions, and when creators required specialised tools, we introduced a focused ProArt lineup.
Today, that same spirit fuels our design and engineering approach as we integrate next-gen AI experiences, sustainability-led materials, and sleek form factors that redefine what 'premium' means.
Do you see a trend where creators and professionals are buying ASUS ROG or TUF gaming laptops specifically for AI workloads rather than gaming?
Arnold: When we entered and introduced our AI PC line-up, we intentionally classified our portfolio that fell into three categories- Everyday AI, Next-Level AI and Advanced AI. Everyday AI (10 TOPS NPU) enhances everyday productivity with AI-powered intelligence for everyday computing. We are striving to make technology more accessible and intuitive than ever, from automating daily tasks to enhancing communication with AI-assisted features.
This evolution reflects how buyers now approach laptops beyond traditional gaming. Earlier, graphics card-powered laptops were primarily for gaming, but the PC ecosystem has matured, and non-gamers like creators, coders, and AI professionals now seek faster computing power for demanding workloads.
ROG and TUF laptops are increasingly purchased for these purposes, supported by diverse categories within ROG: thin-and-light options like the Zephyrus series, tablet form factors like the Flow series, and top-performance machines like the Strix series.
ASUS India/Republic of Gamers (ROG) has continued to push the boundaries of immersive gameplay via its extensive gaming peripheral ecosystem. What is the roadmap for this division?
Arnold: This year ROG will be completing its 20th year, pushing performance boundaries, pioneering new form factors, and empowering gamers and communities worldwide. Through the years, we have consistently introduced groundbreaking technologies to support India’s growing gaming ecosystem. From launching the country’s first dedicated gaming PC to unveiling a series of Windows and Xbox-powered handheld gaming devices that champion the ‘gaming on the go’ phenomenon, our journey has been defined by relentless innovation and user-first design.
ROG continues to inspire the next generation of gamers, creators, and tech enthusiasts, turning play into a platform for exploration, collaboration, and self-expression. Moving forward, we will strengthen our portfolio with premium AI-powered gaming PCs, laptops, and handheld consoles like the ROG XBOX Ally, continuing our legacy of cutting-edge performance. Beyond products, our impact extends through community-driven initiatives such as ROG Showdown and ROG Academy, which nurture emerging talent and build a more inclusive, aspirational gaming culture in India.
Overall, ASUS has seen strong growth, i.e., 15.6 per cent YoY in units shipped, holding the 5th position with 10.2 per cent market share. To bridge the gap to the top 3, what is your strategy for the next fiscal year?
Arnold: Referencing IDC’s Quarterly Personal Computing Device Tracker 2025 Q3, while these are overall numbers, in the consumer notebook business specifically, ASUS secured the No. 2 position in India, recording 7 per cent year-on-year growth in the consumer notebook PC category.
We will continue to democratise access to AI PCs across India by introducing a series of devices across categories and price brackets. Our product line-up for the year 2026 will redefine the premium PC experience as we focus on bringing solutions to cater to the growing creator economy with additions in our creator line-up.
Furthering our retail expansion strategy, we aim to reach Indian talukas this year, ensuring maximum retail touchpoints are available to our customers, since experience plays a pivotal role in the buyer journey in India.
If we sit down for an interview a year later, what headline do you want to see describing ASUS India's position in the country?
Arnold: “ASUS India Cements No. 1 PC Brand Leadership, Empowering Creators, Gamers, and Performers Nationwide.” ASUS is leading innovation that empowers people to create, play, and perform at their best powered by trust, design, and purpose. This vision aligns with our 2026 strategy: dominating Copilot+ PCs, strengthening Zenbook/ProArt premium positioning, and scaling gaming leadership.
Discussing a potential headwind. We are seeing rising costs of DRAM and global memory shortages. Both AI PCs and Gaming rigs are memory-hungry, often requiring 16GB to 32GB of fast RAM. Will Indian gamers see a price hike in the coming quarters due to these component costs, and how is ASUS planning to insulate the consumer from this?
Arnold: Traditionally, the memory and storage market has been highly sensitive to economic cycles. However, this year, the combination of skyrocketing demand for AI-compute servers and production adjustments by major memory suppliers has caused price fluctuations to become even more dramatic compared to previous years.
As a notebook manufacturer, we are also experiencing the rise in DRAM and SSD costs in a very tangible way. This impact is especially direct for premium and gaming lineups, where demand for high-capacity and high-speed components is strong, making market volatility closely tied to overall cost structure.
That said, we actively manage short-term price fluctuations to prevent them from being immediately reflected in finished product prices by leveraging long-term supply agreements and a multi-vendor strategy at the global headquarters level.
If we look at the roadmap for ASUS India for the next 12 months, what are you doing to make sure AI doesn't just become a gimmick in the minds of Indian buyers? How are you ensuring that the software ecosystem in India catches up to the hardware you are selling?
Arnold: With a focus on Workspace AI, Creator AI, and Everyday AI, ASUS will be highlighting its AI advances and demonstrating how every user can harness AI to boost productivity and unlock creativity in 2026.
For example, ASUS Creator AI pairs powerful hardware with exclusive ASUS AI apps like StoryCube, MuseTree, and Creator Hub to boost creative performance. Designed for demanding editing and on-the-go content creation.
Gamers have historically been the power users of the PC world. Now that NPU-integrated chips are becoming standard, how does the definition of a Gaming PC change in 2026?
Arnold: In the Indian market, where the PC sector grew in 2025, driven by AI demand and tier-2/3 city expansions, the gaming PC definition evolves from pure graphical power to versatile, AI-accelerated machines. Gamers remain core power users, but NPU integration (like up to 50 TOPS in AMD Ryzen AI Max processors) now enables seamless multitasking for creators, coders, and professionals handling AI workloads, content creation, and AAA gaming in one device.
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