ASUS is apparently looking to unveil the ZenFone 4 series of smartphones next month, which is later in the year than the ZenFone 3 was announced in 2016. According to a report from Digitimes, this is due to a design overhaul and efficiency upgrades, which the company’s CEO Jerry Shen had cited. The ZenFone 4 is going to sport a 5.5-inch display, according to reports, and the company will only be releasing one smartphone at launch. Later on down the road, ASUS will debut more models for the ZenFone 4 lineup, like they have done in recent years. The 5.5-inch ZenFone 4 is rumored to be price around NT$15,000 in Taiwan, which converts to about $498 USD.
As its predecessors have done, the ZenFone 4 will launch with competitive prices. The company is hoping that it’ll help it turn around their smartphone business, which has been in the red lately. In fact, their smartphone operations will have a net operating loss for the first half of 2017, however the ZenFone 4 is likely to swing it to profit for the entire year, according to the company’s CEO. Shen also revealed that the ZenFone 5 would be announced at Mobile World Congress in Barcelona next year, which would give the ZenFone 4 only about 7 months on store shelves before it is outdated. That’s quite a small window, smaller than most upgrade cycles are these days.
ASUS typically launches a ton of smartphones in each ZenFone lineup, like the ZenFone AR that is launching this summer. These smartphones are usually staggered in releases, throughout the year. For example, the ASUS ZenFone 3 MAX only recently launched, and so did the ZenFone 3 Zoom, while the ZenFone 3 and ZenFone 3 Deluxe launched late last year. It’s a way for the company to release products that fit basically every niche, and price point, so that everyone has an option when it comes to ASUS. However, not all of these models make it to every market. For example, the ZenFone 3 Deluxe made its way to the US, but the ZenFone 3 was cancelled after it was initially announced to be coming to the US. So it’ll be interesting to see how the ZenFone 4 is handled next month.