Last week, technology company Asus held its South African installment of the Intel Performance roadshow in Pilanesberg.

The event included presentations from Asus South Africa Technical Public Relations Manager Marce Bester and Intel’s Africa Consumer Ecosystem Manager Nitesh Doolabh.

The event focused on the importance of performance to laptop buyers, with Asus also emphasizing how it’s bringing key perfomance hardware to more affordable devices.

Major takeaway: Performance is key

When it comes to choosing a laptop, there are a few major considerations from consumers and professionals.

Of the top features that are important to local consumers, price and performance reign supreme.

Globally, performance is the most important feature for users, according to KANTAR’s 2019 survey of users in 10 countries. As a result, companies like Intel and Asus are prioritizing providing high-performance hardware to customers.

How Intel 12th Gen Mobile Processors up performance

Earlier this year, Intel launched its 12th generation of H-series mobile processors in South Africa. Asus, as one of Intel’s technology partners, has introduced a variety of devices to the local market that feature the new CPUs.

But how are 12th gen H-series CPUs different from other processors?

The processors feature a hybrid architecture that includes both performance cores and efficient cores. Performance cores are physically larger, focusing on processing speed and optimization of single-thread performance. Meanwhile, the efficient cores are smaller and optimized for multi-core performance per watt.

The 12th-gen H series 45W processors particularly stand out for their performance capabilities. The series, according to Intel, consists of the fastest mobile processors ever. The series includes up to 40% faster processing speeds when compared to the previous generation.

The H-series CPU is also able to provide high performance without much cost to battery life. According to Asus, H-series CPUs barely use more power than P-series processors.

Asus brings performance to lower price points, lighter form factors

During the presentation, Asus particularly focused on the company’s implementation of Intel’s H-series 45W CPUs at a variety of price points and in a variety of form factors.

In terms of form factors, H-series 45W processors aren’t as common in the thin-and-light category of laptops. But Asus notes that its tweaks to thermal heat pipe design and its airflow improvements to its laptops’ chassis allow the company to integrate the CPUs in its ultralight devices.

Meanwhile, the company also makes performance more affordable by integrating the H-series 45W processors at lower price points thanks to options in its Vivobook range. As a result, the company has the most complete coverage of H-series 45W processors across its ranges, compared to competitors.

The processors are available as options on the Vivobook S, Vivobook Pro, and Vivobook 2022 laptops. This means that high-performance processors are not limited to the brand’s ultra-premium devices, but also its entry-level range of laptops.

“We are bringing more performance to lower-end devices, because those people [buying them] still need performance. That’s why we’re trying to build the 45W CPUs into the lower-end, mainstream range of laptops, where competitors aren’t necessarily [doing that].

Asus South Africa Technical Public Relations Manager Marce Bester

According to Asus, having these components available in more affordable devices helps bring high-performance hardware to more consumers.

“[Competitors] are building in the P-series and the U-series because they are more affordable, but we’re trying to get more performance driven components into the mainstream and still make it more affordable.

Asus South Africa Technical Public Relations Manager Marce Bester

In fact, the Asus Vivobook Pro, Vivobook X, and Vivobook S laptops featured among the company’s best-selling performance laptops, alongside the Zenbook Pro, Zenbook Pro Flip, and Zenbook Duo.

Other insights revealed at the event include Asus’ 94% market share for OLED laptops in South Africa. The company has brought affordable devices like the Vivobook 15 OLED to South Africa, one of the most affordable OLED laptops on the market.

Thanks to these efforts and investment in OLED, the tech company is now the top OLED laptop brand globally. It is also the number one creator laptop brand, and in 2021, it was the fastest-growing consumer brand.

Here’s hoping Asus has some more innovations in store for the local market.

The company has announced that it is bringing the foldable Zenbook 17 Fold to South Africa in the final quarter of the year.

_{Featured image: Megan Ellis}