ASUS‘ recently launched flagship smartphone, the Zenfone 10, which boasts a compact design, a powerful processor, and a dual camera system, might be the last phone to carry the Zenfone name, according to a report from Taiwan.
The report, published by TechNews, claims that ASUS is undergoing an organizational restructuring that will affect its PC and mobile divisions. The report cites sources who say that ASUS will discontinue its Zenfone series and merge the Zenfone team into the ROG Phone team, which focuses on gaming smartphones.
The report also says that ASUS will lay off some employees in its PC departments across Taiwan and China, as part of its efforts to counter the profit slump caused by the global chip shortage and the Covid-19 pandemic.
ASUS has not confirmed or denied the report, and it is unclear what will happen to the existing Zenfone models and their software updates. The company has previously promised two Android upgrades and four years of security patches for the Zenfone 10, which runs on Android 13 out of the box.
The Zenfone series was launched by Asus in 2014 as a line of affordable and feature-rich Android smartphones. Over the years, Asus has released more than 80 devices under the Zenfone brand, catering to different segments and markets. Some of the notable models include the Zenfone 2, which was one of the first phones to offer 4GB of RAM; the Zenfone Zoom, which featured a 3x optical zoom camera; and the Zenfone 8, which was praised for its compact size and flagship performance.
The Zenfone 10 is the latest and possibly the last entry in the series. It features a 5.9-inch Super AMOLED display with a 144Hz refresh rate, a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset with up to 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage, a 50MP main camera with gimbal stabilization and a 13MP ultrawide camera, a 32MP selfie camera, a 4,300mAh battery with 30W wired and 15W wireless charging, and an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance. It is available in five colors: Midnight Black, Starry Blue, Aurora Green, Eclipse Red, and Comet White.
ASUS did not officially bring the Zenfone 10 in the Philippines, but it can be found in gray markets and e-commerce platforms for PHP 39,900 or USD 700.
