By Von Belinario
MSI soars higher than ever as the world’s leading gaming brand and one of the most trusted names in the eSports industry. For the past 20 years since its laptop lineup and products were introduced, the brand remains the best of its kind.
Recently, MSI was recognized by the Consumer Technology Association (CTA)™ with six CES 2024 Innovation Honoree Awards in an annual competition honoring outstanding design and engineering in consumer technology products. In 2024, MSI has been voted the best laptop brand by users on the top tech media site, PC Mag, to complete a rare four-peat. MSI also dominated the 2023 PCDIY Readers’ Choice Award in gaming, creator notebook, and gaming PC categories. It ranked first with 24.68% votes in the gaming category and 19.12% votes in the creator notebook category. These accolades, along with other citations earned throughout the years, prove that MSI is a top brand to beat.
“It’s because of the extreme performance that MSI laptops always provide in the market. MSI focuses on the importance of quality, supported by solid R&D and manufacturing expertise,” said Joe Lee, Sales and Marketing Director, laptop division, MSI Philippines.
“MSI laptops have won many design awards and feature collaborations with other brands, combining performance with style and luxury. Also, innovative technology. MSI is quick to bring the latest technology to the market, allowing consumers to enjoy mainstream tech years ahead because choosing MSI laptops means you get the latest and best technology,” Joe Lee added.
Joe Lee, Sales and Marketing Director, laptop division, MSI Philippines
MSI is a multinational information technology company founded in 1986, making it a nearly 40-year-old enterprise, which celebrates the 20th anniversary of its gaming laptop line.
The tide of the times showed MSI’s resilience in the market as it ventured into the gaming industry to stay afloat in the competition. “MSI rolled out a thin and light netbook in the first place, but the rise of tablet PCs and smartphones in 2009 changed the user behavior, accompanied by the financial crisis, there was a severe cut throat price war, and MSI was also trapped in this dilemma,” Joe Lee said.
Notebook department general manager Eric Kuo then decided to focus on providing “value” instead of cutting prices. He led a market investigation which later found out that there was no dedicated laptop for gamers. Seeing this as an opportunity, the team began developing what would later be known as the gaming laptop.
The whole team took the challenge and worked hard to get the gaming laptop to the top. Their strategies include understanding the gamers’ needs to create a design suitable for them. MSI collaborated closely with gamers, pro players, streamers, commentators, and editors, gathering extensive feedback from them to integrate new applications into gaming laptops.
“You have to put yourselves in their shoes to understand what they need to make the gaming condition better to make our product escalate their gaming experience,” Joe Lee said.
MSI made sure to provide comprehensive experience for the gamers. It enriched each laptop with features in sound, visuals, controls, and networking to ensure the ultimate gaming experience.
“MSI spares no expense, using better materials, flexible expansion options, and the latest features. Even with the same RTX4060 GPU, MSI’s cooling technology allows the graphics card to perform at its best without throttling, ensuring that the specs translate into real performance,” Joe Lee added.
Marketing Strategy, Market Insights, and MSI Laptop in Philippine Market
According to TrendForce, a company that provides in-depth market intelligence and professional consultation services, global notebook market in 2023 struggled due to high inflation, with a 10.8% decrease in sales. Despite this, MSI managed to grow against the trend.
MSI’s success can be credited to its market insights, timely production adjustments, effective inventory management, and flexible sales strategies. The team’s excellent execution, comprehensive marketing campaigns, and strong collaborations with suppliers and sales channels ensure that MSI can smoothly deliver outstanding products to consumers.
“We not only managed to get the latest generation of laptops into stores quickly, making them readily available to consumers, but also expanded our reach by partnering with Mercedes-AMG Motorsport, introducing MSI to a new audience,” said Steven Yang, Regional Sales Director, MSI laptop division.
Steven Yang, Regional Sales Director, MSI laptop division
MSI places a lot of importance on user feedback. Many of its product features are designed to enhance and address current user needs or improve existing experiences
“Another crucial aspect is anticipating market trends at least three to five years in advance. People have used their computers for several years, so we can’t just focus on current technology; we need to foresee future trends. For example, while WiFi 6 was mainstream last year, MSI had already incorporated WiFi 6E and WiFi 7 into our products to ensure users have access to the latest technology,” Steven Yang said.
Starting this year, MSI laptops have experienced significant growth in the Philippine market. They now have different concept stores and partners all over Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Their primary goal has always been to offer the best and most comprehensive laptops to the Philippine market.
“Knowing that our MSI laptop design is customer-oriented, with a focus on performance, quality, and user experience, we are confident that our partners and users will ultimately embrace and appreciate it. It was challenging at the beginning, but thanks to the dedicated efforts of the entire MSI Philippines team and the trust of our partners, including extensive product training, roadshows, campus events, and gaming competitions, we made significant progress,” Joe Lee said.
To 20 More Years and Beyond
Several countries including the Philippines celebrated MSI’s 20th gaming laptop anniversary with a series of promotional activities. This includes the hosting of a special exhibit showcasing the major milestone of MSI laptops over the past two decades.
“Celebrating is not just by yourself. It’s our whole team, our partners, and end users. This company, our goal is to provide good things to the end users,” Joe Lee shared.
MSI has always been focused on innovation, applying the latest technology, and providing the ultimate experience for our laptop users. It is now developing ways to integrate artificial intelligence or AI in the gaming industry.
Different manufacturers have their own definitions of “AI PC,” but for Joe Lee and MSI, regardless of how AI PC is defined, it should provide users with the convenience echoing the “AI+PC” principle. Proof of that are intelligent applications like MSI AI ARTIST and MSI AI ENGINE which seamlessly integrate AI into everyday life.
MSI laptops have gradually earned a strong reputation and experienced growth in the Philippine market. Extreme performance, innovative technology, and luxury aesthetics are the core values that make MSI a proven name throughout the country.
“I am grateful for the efforts of the entire MSI Philippines team, the support of our partners, and the discerning choices of our end users in the Philippines. I look forward to MSI laptops continuing to accompany you for the next 20 years,” Joe Lee concluded.
