Reports from Asia suggest that a smartphone range that is quite popular with users will soon be discontinued without replacement. Accordingly, worldwide marketing is affected.
There has been a lot of movement in the smartphone market this year. Mainly due to patent disputes, manufacturers such as OnePlus, Vivo and Oppo had to withdraw from Germany. The selection of manufacturers and devices has thus shrunk significantly. And it could soon get even smaller as another company wants to say goodbye to its smartphone division. The reasons for this, however, are different.
Asus apparently discontinues the ZenFone division
We’re talking about Asus and its ZenFone series. Since 2014, the manufacturer has been regularly launching new smartphones under this brand, which have often attracted attention with unusual features or a special form factor. For example, models like the Asus ZenFone 6 and 7 had a flip camera, while the devices starting with the ZenFone 8 were particularly compact. This year, Asus once again released one of these very small smartphones. The ZenFone 10 has a display diagonal of just 5.9 inches, which makes it look downright tiny compared to models from other manufacturers.
But apparently Asus overestimated the demand for compact smartphones. There were also other changes in the market, which other manufacturers also felt. Some have survived the past corona years and the high inflation better than others. In general, many components, the infrastructure and labor costs and, accordingly, the end products have become more expensive, which consumers in turn notice.
Also read: Another major smartphone manufacturer stops selling in Germany
New course at Asus
At Asus, the developments probably have more drastic consequences than a mere price increase. The company is radically transforming its core divisions and announced this restructuring internally in June. Originally it was about the PC division, in which the manufacturer is particularly active and has a good name. How Tech News Taiwan writes, Asus has informed its employees about the adjustments in an internal letter and has since laid off a number of them or placed them in other departments.
After the PC division, the smartphone department is now apparently being addressed, as the internal letter reveals. So far, Asus has pursued two strategies in this area. On the one hand there is the ZenFone division for conventional everyday smartphones, on the other hand there is the ROG division (Republic of Gamers) for gamers. The latter is to be continued in the future as the only mainstay in this area. The new console ROG Ally is just one example. The ZenFone division, on the other hand, would like to be closed and the team distributed to other departments, including the ROG division. However, this information has not yet been confirmed, so we asked Asus for a statement.
What does this decision mean for users?
For users of a ZenFone smartphone, the cessation of the division would not have any directly noticeable consequences. Asus continues to sell its devices, including the ZenFone 10, in its shop and through other electronics retailers. The development does not change anything in the update policy either. However, there has often been criticism for this in the past, because the manufacturer is not known for supplying its smartphones with new Android versions quickly and extensively.
However, there will no longer be any new compact smartphones from the ZenFone series. The internal letter therefore describes the ZenFone 10 as “the last generation of this series”.
With the end of Asus’ ZenFone division, the selection of Android devices continues to shrink. The biggest players in this area remain Samsung, Xiaomi and Google with their Pixel smartphones. Buyers will find both high-end devices and cheaper mid-range models here. Motorola, Honor and Nokia also offer Android smartphones, but they no longer have such a large influence.