Marking a decade of gaming dominance in Malaysia from ASUS Republic of Gamers – An interview with Lenny Lin, Country Head of ASUS Malaysia

1. Hello there Lenny! To kick things off, can you share how things have been like for ASUS and ROG in the local gaming scene?

Hello and sure thing! We’re very happy to share that, when it comes to the gaming laptop market in Malaysia, ASUS ROG continues to be the number one gaming laptop brand in the country. We’ve been so for the past nine years now, and we’re already on track to mark a full decade of gaming dominance in Malaysia.

We’ve managed a 30% market share in the gaming laptop scene by the end of last year, and in fact our recent pre-order campaign for the RTX 50 series gaming laptops was our best performing pre-order campaign ROG Malaysia has ever had. We’ve since built on that by introducing some thin-and-light gaming laptops that are more accessible to mainstream gamers as well, which complements our existing thin-and-light gaming models such as the ROG Zephyrus lineup.

On top of that, our ROG Phone lineup has an 83% market share in Malaysia too, ensuring we also stay on top in terms of high-performance mobile gaming smartphones.  

2. What’s next for ASUS and ROG? How do you intend to ensure that 10th year of being the gaming market leader in Malaysia?

Many gamers started off the year very excited thanks to NVIDIA’s reveal of the new GeForce RTX 50 series graphics cards. Here at ASUS Republic of Gamers, we’re very proud to have been one of the first brands in Malaysia to launch our lineup of RTX 50 series-powered gaming laptops. In fact, it was one of the highest performing pre-order campaigns that we’ve ever had here at ROG Malaysia. And it wasn’t just one product either, as we gave gamers here plenty of choices.

Take the ROG Strix SCAR for instance. It’s pretty much the best gaming laptop in terms of raw performance we’ve ever made, with Intel Core Ultra 9 processors mated to up to 64GB of RAM, up to 4TB of SSD storage, up to an RTX 5090 laptop GPU and up to an 18-inch 240Hz MiniLED ROG Nebula HDR display. There’s also RGB lighting all around the chassis along with AniMe Vision on the lid so that our gamers can win with flair.

Then there’s the ROG Strix G, which still packs the same kind of raw performance as its SCAR siblings but in a more subdued design. You’ll still find that Intel Core Ultra 9 processor along with up to an RTX 5080 laptop GPU, and there’s also up to an 18-inch ROG Nebula display with a 240Hz refresh rate. It may be a little less flashy, but the ROG Strix G lineup is still able to offer gamers that desktop-replacement class of performance with ease.

Lastly, there’s our refreshed ROG Zephyrus gaming laptops that have become extremely popular with Malaysians everywhere. The portable powerhouse now comes with up to RTX 5090 laptop GPUs, Intel Core Ultra 9 processors with up to 64GB of memory and an incredible 16-inch, 2.5K ROG Nebula OLED display with a 240Hz refresh rate. Weighing in at less than 1.95kg, the new ROG Zephyrus G16 is undoubtedly the best option for a large screen gaming machine thanks to its CNC-machined aluminum alloy chassis. Plus, the Slash Lighting array on the lid is a beautiful yet minimalist way to show off your laptop. gaming laptops that have become extremely popular with Malaysians everywhere. The portable powerhouse now comes with up to RTX 5090 laptop GPUs, Intel Core Ultra 9 processors with up to 64GB of memory and an incredible 16-inch, 2.5K ROG Nebula OLED display with a 240Hz refresh rate. Weighing in at less than 1.95kg, the new ROG Zephyrus G16 is undoubtedly the best option for a large screen gaming machine thanks to its CNC-machined aluminum alloy chassis. Plus, the Slash Lighting array on the lid is a beautiful yet minimalist way to show off your laptop.

3. Previously, you spoke about ASUS wanting to become the number one technology brand in Malaysia. How does the gaming scene factor into that goal?

Well of course, building on top of our premium RTX 50 series gaming laptops that we’ve just launched is of course the various assortment of gaming peripherals that we offer. We want our gamers to have the best experience when gaming, and we feel that they can get everything they need for that all from ROG, be it your laptop, your gaming mouse, your keyboard, headset, controller, backpack and even your gaming chair – all of that can be had from Republic of Gamers.

Then for the more hardcore gamers, you can get complete prebuilt gaming desktops such as the ROG G700 which packs the latest and greatest Intel Core Ultra 9 processor with the new NVIDIA GeForce RTX 50-series graphics cards. It’s been designed to offer a simple out-of-the-box experience for gamers wanting the absolute best gaming desktop they can get, while simultaneously being designed for easy maintenance and upgradability down the line. That being said, ASUS also offers plenty of desktop PC parts of course, ranging from motherboards and graphics cards to power supplies and desktop PC cases too for our more tech savvy users who wish to build their own gaming machine.

And as for our gamers on the go, well our revolutionary ROG gaming handhelds remain popular as ever. We changed the gaming handheld industry with the original ROG Ally, and its sequel the ROG Ally X kicked things up a notch with upgrades across the board. Those seeking a gaming tablet meanwhile are able to take a look at our brand new ROG Flow Z13, packing the new AMD Ryzen AI Max+ 395 processor. It’s a lean, mean gaming machine that can also double as a great entry point if you’re keen on dabbling with AI as it's a Copilot+ PC too. processor. It’s a lean, mean gaming machine that can also double as a great entry point if you’re keen on dabbling with AI as it's a Copilot+ PC too.

4. What’s next then for ASUS in the local gaming scene?

Seeing as we’ve already covered the high end of the market by being one of the first to debut RTX 50 series laptops in Malaysia, I think the next step is quite simple really. You can expect our midrange and entry level offerings fairly soon, which is all part of our goal of ensuring every gamer in Malaysia will be able to have an ASUS or ROG gaming device catered for their needs. And in fact, that’s already begun in some ways with our recently launched ASUS Gaming series of laptop, which aim to bridge the gap between portability and performance while still being accessible to the average gamer. These laptops, in particular the ASUS Gaming V16 and ASUS Gaming K16 are lightweight, with game-ready high refresh rate displays, and still offer pretty decent performance without compromising on things like build quality or connectivity.

5. Any news on an upcoming ROG Ally X successor, considering recent headlines?

Ah, well obviously at this stage we are unable to comment on any unreleased products. That being said, what I can share is that here at ASUS, we’re always working hard to innovate and develop the next great product. That’s the story behind the original ROG Ally a couple of years ago, when we spotted a gap in the market for a powerful and portable gaming handheld. After a lot of hard work by our talented engineers, we were then able to debut the ROG Ally to much fanfare.

We never want to rest on our laurels of course, which is why we went back to work almost immediately to improve upon what we’ve had, and after another year of hard work we were able to launch the ROG Ally X, which doubled battery life, doubled the storage, improved the ergonomics and basically made the entire gaming experience better.

So going back to your original question then, I guess what I’d say now is that yes, while we won’t be able to reveal anything as of now, we are working hard behind the scenes and we’ll communicate formally once we’re ready to announce anything.

6. We’ve seen AI become quite the trend over the past year or so. How important is AI for ASUS and ROG in terms of your gaming offerings?

AI is indeed quite important in our gaming laptops. With these new RTX 50 series laptop GPUs, they’re able to offer gamers cutting edge AI-powered features such as DLSS 4 and Multi Frame Generation, which use AI to improve the gaming experience. Plenty of popular titles such as Cyberpunk 2077, Black Myth: Wukong, Alan Wake 2 and Marvel Rivals already or will support DLSS Multi Frame Generation, and of course the best way to enjoy it will be on one of our new ROG gaming laptops.

Even users who aren’t necessarily gamers would be able to make good use of our new gaming laptops. Our ROG devices with an RTX 5090 for example will be packing 1,824 TOPS of AI performance from that graphics card alone, giving AI enthusiasts a solid platform to engineer their own local AI models with NVIDIA NIM microservices, while creative professionals can take advantage of RTX tools for AI-assisted creative workflows. Content creators will have additional benefits too, such as support for 4:2:2 chroma subsampling, meaning these RTX 50-series GPUs will allow creators another option for hardware accelerated encoding and decoding of 4:2:2 media.

Overall, I think our goal for ASUS and ROG in terms of gaming is quite simple, which is that we want to offer the best devices for every gamer out there. Whether you’re a seasoned professional eSports veteran, aspiring competitive player, a single player RPG fan or just a casual gamer, you’re bound to find something from us that will fit your needs. We’re also confident that this would allow us here at ASUS and ROG to build a stronger connection with gamers, as we aim to not only have a gaming device fit for everyone, but also to make performance more accessible too for our budding gamers. 

For more about ASUS and ROG latest innovations, head over to the ROG Malaysia official website.