According to a recent report in the Financial Times, Asustek plans to separate its brand-name business and ODM operations into different entities, aiming to spin off and separately list its ODM operations in the coming two to three years. As Asustek's brand is becoming stronger, it has the potential to develop into a competitor to the company's ODM clients. The proposed move will be made to reduce this brand-name conflict. The Financial Times quoted Asustek's CEO as saying that when the spin off will happen, the company will keep a substantial amount of R&D in the branded business.