How hard would it be for a father to abandon his son, who solely has gained profits year after year? Not too hard when the father is Asus. According to reports straight out of Taiwan, the latest Zenfone 10 could be the last in the series from Asus.
The yet-to-be-released compact flagship phone would be the last to come out of Asus’ factories, which is going to be a more sour than a sweet moment for Zenfone fans. The series has maintained in a time of mindless modernisation fragments of a past fast being forgotten.
The Zenfone series is one of the few smartphones that still include a 3.5mm headphone jack and maintain a compact flagship without any significant compromises.
The series for the most part has received critical acclaim from reviewers as well as users over the years.
According to a report from Technews Taiwan, as part of internal restructuring, Asus has cut down on certain departments. One of the victims of this restructuring is the Zenfone division.
It is being reported that employees working in the Zenfone division have been moved to the ROG phone team and other parts of the company.
Since there is no team, there can’t be any further Zenfone. It is believed that the Zenfone 10 will be the last phone to come out in the series.
This news may have come as a surprise to many but those who have ear to the ground have been noticing the signs for some time now.
Earlier this month, Zenfone community members noticed that Asus had removed older Zenfone firmwares from its website. When concerns were raised, community moderators clarified that Asus no longer provides previous firmware versions or downgrade packages to ensure users remain on up-to-date firmware.
While killing off Zenfone would definitely be a blow to the smartphone ecosystem, we are yet to see how ROG-branded phones impact the industry in the long run.
Asus Zenfone provides a clean Android experience to those who love small smartphones. We can still expect Asus to produce small gaming smartphones under the ROG branding, but that would cater to a niche market within a niche market. It’s hard to see how it will benefit the ecosystem at large and Asus in particular.