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Asus hopes new Chromebooks, smartphones, and wearables will turn fortunes around

Asus hopes new Chromebooks, smartphones, and wearables will turn fortunes around

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Gallery Photo: Asus Memo Pad HD7 photos
Gallery Photo: Asus Memo Pad HD7 photos

Asus reported its quarterly earnings late last week, and alongside the news that the company's net profit dropped 26 percent year-over-year, Asus CEO Jerry Shen gave some hints about what the company might do to help turn things around. According to The Taipei Times, the company indicated it would launch its first Chromebooks next year — tentative options include an 11.6-inch model that would retail for $199 and a 13.3-inch model for $249.

The company also wants to make its smartphone business a profitable priority in 2014 — we should see new models from the company at CES in January. These moves would come as the PC market continues to shrink, a contraction that's at the heart of Asus' declining profits. "We remain optimistic about the desktop and laptop market, but our priority is to make the company's smartphone business turn a profit next year," said CFO David Chang.

Lastly, the company indicated it would get into the burgeoning wearables marketplace — Asus said that it would launch wearable devices at next year's Computex event in Taipei. There's no word on what exactly the company has planned, but it seems like a watch would be a good bet.