Key Takeaways
- ASUS refutes rumors of discontinuing Zenfone lineup, confirming its dedication to its two primary cellphone companies, ROG Telephone and Zenfone.
- The Zenfone lineup has been praised for its specs, compact type issue, and premium parts, making it a fan-favorite.
- The restructuring of ASUS’s cellular division might result in the shutdown of the Zenfone division, disappointing followers and small cellphone fanatics.
UPDATE: 08/29/2023 06:00 EST BY ROLAND UDVARLAKI
ASUS launched an official assertion refuting the current rumors concerning the firm discontinuing its Zenfone lineup.
The corporate revealed a brand new publish on its web site with a brief assertion, confirming that the rumors are certainly flawed, and that ASUS intends to proceed and hold its two primary cellphone companies and product strains.
“We want to handle the rumor that ASUS Zenfone 10 would be the final era of the collection and the ASUS Zenfone product line will likely be shut down. This isn’t true. We’ll proceed our two primary cellphone enterprise product strains, the ROG Telephone and the Zenfone. ASUS has a powerful dedication to our smartphone enterprise and clients. Please reference our Q2 earnings name for extra data. Please keep tuned for our 2024 product lineups.”
The ASUS Zenfone lineup has all the time been a fan-favorite, and the newest Zenfone 10 was one in all our favourite compact flagship of 2023. The final two generations of Zenfone smartphones obtained numerous reward for his or her glorious specs, compact type issue, and only a few downsides. ASUS even stored the three.5mm headphone jack, and packed its units with premium parts that many different producers have given up on a few years in the past.
A brand new report from Technews Taiwan (through Android Authority) claims that ASUS is restructuring its cellular division. As a part of the method, the corporate might lower down sure departments, divisions, and operations. Sadly, one of many victims of this restructuring may very well be the Zenfone division, which is claimed to have ceased operations and shut down. The report claims that workers have been absorbed into the ROG Telephone crew and have been moved to different divisions inside the enterprise, and we will’t rule out layoffs.
In keeping with the report, the Zenfone 10 may very well be the final system within the collection, for the reason that crew managing the system has ceased operations and it’s now not there. ASUS additionally stopped permitting bootloader unlocks earlier this month, and the corporate even eliminated firmware from its web site a couple of weeks in the past. Whereas these may not be associated, it looks as if the choice might have been made some time in the past, and the speedy shutdown may not be all that shocking.
Ought to ASUS discontinue the Zenfone collection?
The primary-generation Zenfone units have been introduced in 2014 at CES in Las Vegas. Since then, the Zenfone collection has turn into a preferred model, particularly amongst those that love small smartphones. ASUS has seemingly remained the one firm to proceed growing compact cellular units with flagship specs, and if the rumors become true, it’ll be an enormous blow to your complete Android smartphone ecosystem. The lack of the ASUS Zenfone lineup would disappoint hardcore followers, and small cellphone fanatics who relied on ASUS’s units for a number of years.
Whereas ASUS isn’t a large participant within the smartphone market, it has a big portfolio of units, and it’s been in the marketplace for a number of years. The report of the corporate shutting down one in all its most outstanding divisions appears shocking. Nonetheless, it’s not all that surprising given ASUS by no means marketed its merchandise and was by no means an enormous participant.
ASUS by no means tried to compete with the likes of Samsung and Google, and it’s potential the Zenfone collection weren’t promoting in addition to the corporate would’ve hoped. The present financial downturn might’ve made issues even more durable to justify and run. Due to this fact a shutdown wouldn’t be too shocking. We are able to solely hope and speculate that the ROG Telephone lineup will live on and supply highly effective specs and gaming-focused options for a distinct segment market within the coming months and years.
With that stated, we will’t rule out the potential of one other, contemporary new lineup. We are able to solely speculate, however there’s a chance this might assist ASUS reshuffle its enterprise and proceed growing much more smartphones, doubtlessly opening the door for much more units at a variety of value tags. The transfer might assist ASUS set up itself as a key participant, and tackle Motorola, OnePlus, and different manufacturers providing low-end, midrangers, and high-end smartphones.
As all the time, take all of this with a heavy grain of salt. It’s an unconfirmed report, and nobody is aware of what’s occurring behind the scenes till ASUS verifies the rumors instantly, and publicly. We need to proceed seeing the Zenfone lineup within the close to future. Customers want extra decisions as the present market has already made Sony reduce operations, and each LG and HTC have stop the cellular markets after they struggled to make a dent within the extraordinarily difficult smartphone house.
Asus Zenfone 10
The Asus Zenfone 10 takes inspiration from the Zenfone 9 and brings highly effective 2023 {hardware}, such because the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, to the corporate’s compact smartphone. If you’d like a small cellphone that performs in addition to or higher than most others in the marketplace, that is one to contemplate.
