Why Millions Of Gamers Are Boycotting Asus

Asus, once a revered brand in the gaming community, faces a boycott led by influential YouTubers due to declining quality control, particularly in budget product lines, and anti-consumer policies. The brand's enthusiast gamer community, Republic of Gamers (ROG), feels betrayed as Asus's expensive hardware, including motherboards and GPUs, now suffers from reliability issues. Overclocking enthusiasts are particularly affected by a buggy BIOS update that risks hardware damage, and Asus's response—releasing a beta BIOS that voids warranties—has only fueled the backlash. Despite this, Asus's broad market presence keeps its financials stable, but ongoing anti-consumer practices could threaten its long-term reputation and success.

• Asus is experiencing a boycott led by influential YouTubers.
• These YouTubers previously had strong relationships with Asus, benefiting from sponsorships and free products.
• Asus built a strong brand over two decades with its Republic of Gamers (ROG) community.
• Asus-themed gaming setups were common, and the brand was breaking into high-end laptops and mobile markets.
• A few missteps involving customer trust and accountability have led to community backlash against Asus.

"Did you know that the gaming community at large is boycotting Asus? In fact, we’ve seen a slew of million-view videos from massive YouTubers that are encouraging and even leading this rebellion."

• This quote indicates the scale of the boycott against Asus, with significant influence from popular YouTubers.

"Over the past 2 decades, Asus has built up an extremely strong enthusiast gamer brand and community called ROG or Republic of Gamers."

• This quote highlights the long-term brand development and community engagement that Asus has fostered within the gaming industry.

"But, despite all this brand loyalty and brand value, it only took a few wrong steps regarding abuse of customer trust, lack of accountability, and a little bit of arrogance to turn the entire community against Asus."

• The quote suggests that despite a strong brand and loyal customer base, Asus's recent actions have led to a major shift in consumer sentiment.

• Asus has drifted from its reputation for high-end quality hardware.
• ROG products were expensive but considered the best by enthusiasts, similar to Apple's brand perception.
• Recent quality control issues, particularly in budget product lines, have been reported.
• Customers are experiencing product failures shortly after warranty periods, suggesting possible planned obsolescence or poor quality.
• Asus is accused of leveraging the ROG brand on subpar products to boost sales.

"But, more recently, it seems that quality control has substantially declined for Asus especially when it comes to their budget lineups."

• This quote points to a perceived decrease in the quality of Asus products, especially in the more affordable ranges.

"More and more threads have started to surface regarding budget Asus motherboards and laptops straight up dying. And the worst part is that many of these cases happen just 1 to 2 weeks after the warranty period ends."

• The quote highlights customer complaints about product reliability, with failures occurring shortly after warranty expiration, leading to customer frustration.

"It seems that with the budget lineups, Asus has resorted to building underwhelming products and slapping the ROG brand on them to move units."

• This quote suggests that Asus may be compromising on product quality while still using the ROG branding to maintain sales, which is damaging the brand's reputation.

• Asus has experienced sales success but has also faced customer disappointment.
• Problems with Asus hardware have persisted for years, often dismissed as a "poor man's problem."
• Concerns escalated when flagship hardware began to exhibit issues.

"Such issues have been going on for a few years now, but these concerns have largely been swept under the rug as a poor man’s problem."

• This quote highlights the ongoing nature of Asus hardware issues and the perception that they were not significant because they affected lower-end products.

"When it came to Asus’ higher-end hardware, it was still top of the line, so most of the community just didn’t care until issues started popping up on flagship hardware as well."

• The quote indicates that the Asus community overlooked issues until they began affecting high-end, flagship hardware.

• Overclocking is an enthusiast activity that involves pushing computer hardware beyond factory settings.
• Computers and phones are often more powerful than needed for everyday tasks, but gamers seek maximum performance.
• Overclocking increases the clock rate of CPU, GPU, RAM, and other components, requiring increased voltage and cooling.
• Modern chips and motherboards have made overclocking more reliable and common.
• Many motherboards, including those from Asus, offer automatic overclocking options, though manual overclocking is preferred by gamers.
• High-end motherboards are designed to be robust and handle increased voltage safely.

"For most of us, the computers and phones we have are usually overkill for browsing social media and just watching YouTube videos, but when it comes to gaming, there is no such thing as too much power."

• This quote explains that while everyday tasks do not require excessive computing power, gaming enthusiasts demand the highest performance possible.

"It’s when you push your CPU, GPU, RAM, and other components past their factory settings."

• This quote defines overclocking as the process of pushing hardware components beyond their standard performance levels.

"With the reliability and stability of modern chips and motherboards, overclocking is common practice."

• The quote suggests that due to advancements in technology, overclocking has become a standard practice among enthusiasts.

"Many enthusiast motherboards like the ones from Asus come with inbuilt automatic overclocking options."

• The quote points out that Asus motherboards cater to enthusiasts by including features that facilitate overclocking, indicating its prevalence in the gaming community.

• Asus' 670 chipset boards experienced issues due to a problematic BIOS update.
• Users encountered problems regardless of whether they were overclocking their systems.
• The expectation is that expensive motherboards should protect CPUs from damage.

"What happens when they get fried anyway regardless of whether you overclock or not?. Well, that’s precisely what started happening with Asus’ 670 chipset boards due to a buggy bios update."

• This quote raises concerns about the reliability of Asus' high-end motherboards, which were failing even without user intervention, due to a defective BIOS update.

• Users observed SOC voltage spikes from 1.5V to over 2V after a BIOS update.
• CPU temperatures also randomly spiked from 40 degrees Celsius to 110 degrees Celsius.
• High temperatures can damage the CPU and motherboard, incurring substantial costs.
• Asus' initial response to the issue was not well-received by the gaming community.

"Ever since the BIOS update, users started noticing that SOC voltage would randomly spike from 1.5V to as much over 2V."

• This quote explains the technical issue that arose after the BIOS update, highlighting the abnormal increase in SOC voltage.

"CPU temperatures would also randomly spike from a normal 40 degrees Celsius to as much as 110 degrees Celsius."

• The quote indicates the significant and dangerous temperature fluctuations experienced by CPUs following the BIOS update.

• Asus chose not to recall the BIOS update or compensate affected users.
• They released a beta BIOS update to address the issue, but updating voided the warranty.
• This decision was seen as anti-consumer and increased discontent within the gaming community.
• The situation led to a closer examination of Asus' history of anti-consumer policies.

"The right course of action from Asus would have been to recall the BIOS update and compensate users who were affected by the buggy BIOS, but that’s not what Asus did."

• This quote criticizes Asus for not taking the appropriate actions to rectify the issues caused by the BIOS update.

"By updating to the beta BIOS, you void your warranty."

• The quote highlights the controversial condition Asus imposed on users, forcing them to choose between a potential fix and their warranty rights.

• Asus' quality control has been questioned for both budget and high-end hardware.
• In late 2021, Asus Z690 boards were reported to catch fire due to a manufacturing error.
• Asus recalled the affected Z690 boards, but only after an extended period of time had passed.

"We already touched on the crappy quality control of budget Asus hardware but looking back, it seemed that higher-end Asus boards were also lacking quality control."

• This quote suggests that quality control issues were not limited to budget hardware but also affected Asus' premium products.

"In late 2021, a bunch of Asus Z690 boards were literally catching on fire because Asus allegedly accidentally reversed a capacitor on the board."

• The quote provides an example of a serious quality control failure that led to hazardous situations for users.

"Asus didn’t recall these boards till a whopping 8 months after these boards started catching on fire."

• This quote indicates a significant delay in Asus' response to a known safety issue, further emphasizing the company's problematic approach to consumer welfare.

• Asus conducted a recall that was not widely publicized, risking customer safety.
• The recall was for a product that could potentially cause a fire, but many customers were unaware.
• JayzTwoCents criticized Asus for their subtle approach to the recall, emphasizing that recalls should be more public.

"As JayzTwoCents pointed out, looking back, Asus did one of the most low-key recalls we’ve seen which is largely counterintuitive."

This quote highlights the criticism from JayzTwoCents regarding Asus's handling of the recall, suggesting it was done quietly and not in the best interest of consumers.

• Despite issues with products, Asus's strong ROG branding and marketing have maintained its reputation.
• The ROG (Republic of Gamers) brand is particularly influential in the gaming community.

"The reality was that Asus had been dropping the ball both with budget products and enthusiast products, but no one really questioned Asus simply because their ROG branding and marketing were so strong."

This quote implies that Asus's marketing efforts have overshadowed the actual quality and reliability of their products, preventing potential backlash or loss of consumer trust.

• Core gamers are boycotting Asus, but this has not significantly impacted their financials.
• Asus's stock price remains high, and their business is not visibly suffering from the boycott.
• The boycott is a result of Asus's perceived anti-consumer policies and product issues.

"While much of the core gaming community is boycotting Asus and opting for products from competitors like MSI, Gigabyte, and EVGA, this hasn’t really affected Asus’ top line, bottom line, or stock price."

This quote indicates that despite a boycott from a segment of their customer base, Asus's business metrics have not been negatively affected, suggesting a strong brand and diversified consumer base.

• Asus has expanded its brand beyond the gaming community, gaining exposure to a broader audience.
• Marques Brownlee, a tech reviewer with a wide audience, has featured Asus ROG phones.
• The diversification of Asus's audience has been a strategic move that has helped the company grow.

"Asus has an insane amount of exposure outside the gaming community."

The quote demonstrates the extent of Asus's brand reach beyond its traditional gaming audience, which has contributed to the company's continued growth despite criticism from gaming-focused communities.

• The average consumer may not be aware of Asus's shortcomings and anti-consumer policies.
• Consumers may purchase Asus products thinking they are avoiding other brands' anti-consumer policies, not realizing Asus has similar issues.
• Asus benefits significantly from its brand image, which can overshadow its policies and product issues.

"The average person buying an Asus phone likely has no idea about all of their shortcomings and anti-consumer policies."

This quote suggests that there is a disconnect between Asus's brand image and the actual consumer experience, with many customers potentially unaware of the company's less favorable practices.

• Asus's current approach to business and consumer relations may not be sustainable in the long run.
• A significant misstep with a mainstream product could have more severe consequences.
• If influential reviewers like Marques Brownlee were to criticize Asus publicly, it could have a considerable impact.
• The gaming community's boycott is seen as the beginning of a potential fundamental decline for Asus.

"If they do, it’s only a matter of time until they make an even bigger misstep with one of their broad market devices."

This quote suggests that Asus's current practices may eventually lead to a larger issue that could significantly damage the company's reputation and market position.

• The transcript ends with a call to action, asking listeners if they would continue to support Asus despite its anti-consumer behavior.
• It also promotes a weekly newsletter for more in-depth tech analysis and insider interviews.

"Do you own any Asus hardware and if so, would you consider purchasing from them again given their anti-consumer behavior?"

This quote is a direct question to the audience, prompting them to reflect on their loyalty to Asus in light of the information presented about the company's practices.