The hard numbers are in for one of our favorite Nexus device partners and they are looking good according to The Wall Street Journal. That’s right Asus, who were the manufacturers of last year’s hit the Google Nexus 7, earned a total of $3.5 billion in revenue in the first quarter of 2013. Those figures equate to a total quarterly profit of $202 million for the company, which is up 5.8 percent as compared to both the first and last quarters of 2012.
The main factor in the manufacturer’s success was their tablet sales. Unlike many companies that have made their bones selling notebook and personal computers, Asus must have felt some of the changing winds because they hedged their bets on the tablet computer side of the table. So while everyone was taking a continued hit on their PC and notebook sales, Asus was cleaning up by selling a whopping 3 million tablets this year between the beginning of January until the end of March.
Of course the elephant in the room for Asus is the Nexus 7. Just like other Google partners such as Samsung before them and what we are seeing lately with LG, Asus got that famous “Nexus bump”. What that means is that it seems like every time a manufacturer gets in bed with Google for a Nexus device, their brand awareness in the general public goes through the roof and a lot of their similar products get a second look from people. Sort of like the old saying “A high tide raises all boats”.
While the Nexus 7 wasn’t the first affordable seven inch tablet with great specs, the Amazon Kindle Fire holds that distinction, it certainly took the game to the next level. The sub $200 pure Google experience device was a hit right from jump street, and even as we head into the one year anniversary of the tablet it is still a force to be reckoned with. The numbers don’t lie and in the time since the release of the Nexus 7, Asus’ sales in the United States now account for 23% of their business, up 6 percent from last years total 17%.
The company isn’t predicting a big second quarter of 2013 which is understandable because the entire Android world is expecting a summer (Q3) release of the second generation Nexus 7.