Taiwanese computer maker Asus published its financial report for the third quarter of 2012, stating that its net profit increased by 43% year-on-year to about USD229 million, achieving a record over the past four years.

According to the report, laptops and tablets contributed the most to the good performance of the company. To enhance the advantage, Asus announced that it will invest more in the laptop and tablet sectors in 2013.

The financial report showed that during the third quarter of 2012, 59% of Asus' revenue was from the laptop business; 16% from printed circuit boards; 4% from Eee PCs, and 8% from other product lines. In the reporting period, the company's laptop shipments increased by 14% compared with the previous quarter; while its tablet shipments increased from 800,000 units in previous quarter to nearly 2.3 million units.

The global PC and tablets markets have not seen overall growth since the beginning of 2012. Statistics from Gartner and IDC showed that during the third quarter of 2012, the global PC shipment decreased by over 8% year-on-year, representing the largest decline since 2001. The shipments of traditional PC giants like HP, Dell, and Acer all saw negative growth. In addition, Apple's iPad series dominated the tablet market, and other PC and consumer electronic makers were unable to compete with it.

Based on the overall market situation and the performance of Asus, the company has announced new goals. In 2013, Asus aims to become the largest touch-control notebook provider in the world. For tablets, the company aims at sales of ten million units, ranking second after Apple. At the same time, it will continue to promote the combination of laptop and tablet product series.