Asustek earnings sink deeper into the red in Q2

TAIPEI Aug 25 (Reuters) - Netbook PC pioneer Asustek (2357.TW) said on Tuesday it sank deeper into the red in the second quarter, dashing hopes that it was on the road to recovery as consumers deserted the company for more famous brand names. Asustek recorded a net loss of T$131 million ($3.9 million) in the second quarter, severely lagging market expectations for a T$1 billion net profit and worse than the T$5.64 billion recorded a year earlier.

The company also said it aimed to ship 1.8 million notebook PCs, 1.5 million of its Eee PC line of netbooks and about 5.5 million to 6 million motherboards in the third quarter.

It announced its earnings after the Taiwan stock exchange closed on Tuesday. Its shares were up 0.96 percent, compared to a 0.42 percent decline on the benchmark TAIEX share index .TWII. (Reporting by Kelvin Soh; Editing by Chris Lewis)