ASUS just made a major announcement that will disappoint anyone who liked their phones. The company is stepping away from the smartphone business, and it might be for good. Chairman Jonney Shih recently said that ASUS does not plan to release new phone models in the future. He did not outright confirm that smartphones are completely finished at ASUS, but he acknowledged that could be where things are heading.
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What has ASUS said about the matter?
The news came from recent comments by Shih that made it clear the company is rethinking its entire approach to the smartphone market. Earlier reports suggested ASUS would skip releasing any new phones in 2026, but Shih’s statements indicate this pause could last much longer than just one year. The company is not abandoning people who already own ASUS phones though. Existing devices will continue to receive software updates and warranty support, so if you bought a Zenfone or ROG Phone recently, you are not being left high and dry.
Shih hinted that ASUS might redirect its efforts toward AI related projects in the future. That could include things like robotics or smartglasses, which fits with some of the products ASUS has been showing off recently. The company is clearly looking for areas where it can differentiate itself and potentially make better margins than the brutal smartphone market allows.
Why this decision could actually make sense for ASUS
The smartphone business has become incredibly difficult for smaller players. You have Apple dominating the high end and making most of the industry’s profits. Samsung and a few Chinese manufacturers like Xiaomi, Oppo, and Vivo control the majority of the Android market. Everyone else is fighting over scraps with tiny profit margins and fierce competition. ASUS was never a major player in terms of sales volume, which made it hard to justify the massive investment required to design, manufacture, and market new phones every year.
ASUS had carved out a niche with its ROG Phone gaming series, which appealed to a specific audience of mobile gamers who wanted powerful specs and gaming focused features. The Zenfone line offered smaller phones with decent specs for people who did not want giant devices. But niche products only work if you can sell enough of them to cover your costs, and apparently ASUS decided the numbers were not adding up anymore.
The company is much stronger in other areas. ASUS makes excellent laptops, particularly gaming laptops under the ROG brand. Their motherboards and graphics cards are popular with PC builders. Monitors, routers, and other computer peripherals have been successful product lines. Smartphones were always a side business compared to these core strengths, so pulling back makes sense from a strategic perspective.
What ASUS Showed off at CES instead of a smartphone lineup
ASUS had plenty of other announcements at CES 2026 that had nothing to do with phones. The company unveiled dual screen laptops like the redesigned Zenbook Duo and the ROG Zephyrus Duo, both of which got positive attention for their innovative designs. They also showed off gaming smartglasses developed in partnership with Xreal that offer some meaningful upgrades over previous attempts at that product category.
These products represent where ASUS seems to be focusing its future efforts. Laptops have always been a strong category for the company, and adding innovative designs like dual screens helps them stand out in a crowded market. Smartglasses tie into the AI and augmented reality trends that Shih mentioned when talking about the company’s future direction. Both of these areas potentially offer better profit margins and less brutal competition than smartphones.
What happens to existing ASUS Smartphone users?
If you currently own an ASUS phone, the good news is that the company is not just abandoning the products it already sold. Software updates will continue for existing devices, which means you should still get security patches and potentially even major Android version updates depending on which phone you have and how old it is. Warranty support will also continue, so if something breaks, you can still get it fixed or replaced according to the terms of your warranty.
The bad news is that this is probably the end of the line for anyone who was hoping to upgrade to a newer ASUS phone in the future. If you loved the compact size of the Zenfone or the gaming features of the ROG Phone, you will need to find alternatives when it comes time to replace your current device. There are not many other manufacturers making truly compact flagship phones anymore, which makes the potential loss of the Zenfone line particularly unfortunate for people who prefer smaller devices.
