Asustek Computer suffered operating losses for its tablet business operations in 2014 and the first half of 2015 but has adjusted its supply chain and decreased the number of new models to reduce total operating cost, and thereby expects its tablet business operations in 2015 to break even, according to company CEO Jerry Shen.

Asustek shipped 9.4 million globally in 2014, decreasing 22.3% on year, 1.5 million units in the first quarter of 2015 and 1.2 million units in the second one for 2.7 million units in the first half of the year. Through the operational adjustment, Asustek expects to ship at least 1.5 million tablets in the third quarter and more than 2.8 million units in the fourth, resulting in shipments of 7.0-9.0 million tablets in 2015, Shen said.

Asustek has seen good sales of tablets in the Russia, Italy, Indonesia and Thailand markets. For the US market in particular, Asustek has cooperated with Best Buy and talked about cooperation with AT&T for selling tablets and aims to ship 2.0 million units in 2015.

All Asustek tablets are under ZenPad series, with 7- to 10-inch models mostly based on Android and above 10-inch ones on Windows and 90% of all models equipped with Intel processors.

Over 90% of key components of ZenPad models, including panels, touch models, structural components and battery packs, are supplied by Taiwan-based makers to secure quality.

Asustek on July 14 unveiled six ZenPad models for launch in the Taiwan market, including two 8-inch ones for sale at NT$4,990 (US$161) and NT$8,990 and a 7-inch entry-level one at NT$3,390.