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ASUS Zenfone smartphone division reportedly shutdown

ASUS may be doing away with its line of compact smartphones.

August 28, 2023 7:00 AM

ASUS

Tech company ASUS may be better known for its high-end laptops and PC accessories, but the company also manufactures a line of smartphones called the Zenfone. The upcoming Zenfone 10 will be the latest iteration of the product, and it might also be the last. According to new reports, ASUS may be shuttering its Zenfone division completely.

The rumors of ASUS shutting down its Zenfone division come from a Technews Taiwan report. The outlet, which is located in the same country as ASUS’ headquarters, alleges that the tech company informed employees about some internal reshuffling earlier this summer. After assigning workers to the Zenfone division, most of them were either laid off or reassigned to work in other departments at the company. Several of them will work on the ROG Phone, ASUS’ other smartphone line.

Different colored models of the ASUS Zenfone 10 smartphone. — Source: ASUS

Android Authority provided some additional evidence to support the claims that ASUS has closed its Zenfone division. This includes ASUS recently removing older Zenfone firmware from its website, and no longer allowing bootloader unlocks for Zenfone devices.

The first Zenfone was released back in 2014, and ASUS has continued to iterate on its design in the years since. The Zenfone has often been on the forefront in the emergence of new smartphone software and hardware. Back in 2018, the ROG Phone joined ASUS’ mobile product line-up.

The Zenfone 10 is set to launch later this year, and will likely be the final phone in its line. As for what ASUS does with the ROG Phone and the other major products in its line-up, stay with us here on Shacknews as we continue to follow the latest developments.

Donovan Erskine

News Editor

Donovan is a journalist from Maryland. His oldest gaming memory is playing Pajama Sam on his mom's desktop during weekends. Pokémon Emerald, Halo 2, and the original Star Wars Battlefront 2 were some of the most influential titles in awakening his love for video games. After interning for Shacknews throughout college, Donovan graduated from Bowie State University in 2020 with a major in broadcast journalism and joined the team full-time. He is a huge film fanatic and will talk with you about movies and games all day. You can follow him on twitter @Donimals_

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August 28, 2023 7:00 AM

Donovan Erskine posted a new article, ASUS Zenfone smartphone division reportedly shutdown
- Enkidu
  
   reply
  August 28, 2023 7:40 AM
  
  I owned the Zenfone 3 and Zenfone 5, purchased when I was living in Taiwan. Both were great phones - especially the very svelte Zenfone 3.
  
  The major problem was the lack of OS upgrades. Two years max from the date of release meant the phones were practically e-waste after a year.
  
  The Zenfone 10 was shaping up to be the only top-tier compact Android phone, but if Asus is closing the Zenfone division then the manufacturer support for OS and security updates is going to be totally garbage. Sad...
- CplBeaker
  
   reply
  August 28, 2023 11:21 AM
  
  Bummer, I really loved my Zenfone.
- errational
  
   reply
  August 28, 2023 12:17 PM
  
  Who's calling me?!
  
  Apparently no one ASUS!
- Hoax
  
   reply
  August 28, 2023 12:20 PM
  
  The zenfone seemed to be great in the same way sony xperia 5 is/was.
  It combines headphone jack, dedicated camera button, physical fingerprint reader in a smaller size case, with a good display, decent camera etc
  
  Overall a pretty good package that kinda suffered from price sand upgrade policy.
  - Conan
    
     reply
    August 28, 2023 12:55 PM
    
    I haven't used one recently, but a coworker had one back when they were new, about the same time I bought an Asus Transformer tablet/laptop.
    
    Both of them were legit good devices for the time.
- samuelheilman
  
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  July 23, 2024 2:12 AM
  
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