Asus has been making phones for over a decade. You may be familiar with some of their best works like the Zenfone 9 and 10, and their unapologetically chunky ROG Phones. Unfortunately, some things inevitably end.
The company has decided to step away from smartphones entirely, and announced that they're freezing new models. They're now redirecting their engineers toward a future built on Physical AI. Specifically, robots, smart glasses, AI-first PCs, and whatever the next wave of hardware intelligence becomes.
Asus is going all in one AI
Asus’ announcement to cease phone production came directly from Jonney Shih, the company Chairman. He personally confirmed it during last year's Year-End Gala at the Taipei Nangang Exhibition Center, in a pre-event interview with the media.
He also shared how the company hit NT$738.91 billion in revenue, growing 26.1% year-over-year, mainly because of AI servers. Their AI server division doubled 100% growth ahead of schedule.
While the Zenfone and ROG Phone aren’t officially cancelled, no new models will be coming in the future. However, they'll “continue to take care of the brand’s mobile phone users”.
Employees who worked on Snapdragon and Qualcomm integrated phones are now being moved to Snapdragon X laptops and Dragonwing platform AI devices.
Users are reacting with a mix of grief, frustration, nostalgia, and resignation. Many people are genuinely heartbroken because Asus was among the few companies still making experimental and unapologetically niche devices.
You can feel the disappointment clearly in Reddit comments from those who bought the ROG Phone 9 or treasure older models like the ROG Phone 2.
A second wave of reactions is purely frustrated at the current tech climate where the AI boom is ruining everything. Some say the least the company could do is unlock the bootloader so people can keep using their devices after official support dies.
Tension as rumors of brands quitting smartphone market spread
Asus’ situation highlights how the smartphone race is becoming tougher than many companies can realistically handle. Even Oppo, one of the largest Chinese manufacturers, was briefly rumored to be shutting down or dismantling parts of its business after reports about a massive restructuring.
The claims eventually proved to be exaggerated, and BBK Group publicly denied them. It all makes you wonder whether the smartphone market has finally reached a point where only a few players can survive comfortably. It's no longer enough to make a strong product.
You also need to deal with scaling, margins, supply chain power, marketing budgets, distribution, long-term updates, and loyalty programs. Hopefully, the industry doesn’t lose the few remaining brands that are still trying to do things differently.
That said, if you want something like the brand’s performance-focused phones, the closest equivalent left is Red Magic. They’re the last true gaming phone brand putting out wild hardware, vents, fans, and high-refresh displays.
They've just launched the RedMagic 11 Air. It arrives with a Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, a 7,000mAh battery, a 144Hz AMOLED display, and the familiar transparent design with an RGB cooling fan spinning at 24,000 RPM.
