Unlike Taiwanese handset maker HTC, which didn't sell too many smartphones last year, Asus has been doing well enough. It's still in the red after year's end, but it still has time to boost its sales since it has already announced two new smartphones at CES 2017, the ZenFone AR and ZenFone 3 Zoom.
According to Digitimes, sources from Taiwan's handset supply chain claim Asus plans to launch its first ZenFone 4 series smartphones sometime in May. Although the devices will be released on the market in May, they might be introduced a few months earlier.
Knowing that the next major tech event where smartphone companies announce new products is Mobile World Congress, we believe one or more ZenFone 4 smartphones will be unveiled in late February.
Unfortunately, there is no information about any of the ZenFone 4 phones that Asus plans to launch in May.
The cited source claims most of these devices will come with hardware specifications higher than those of their predecessors. Moreover, the ZenFone 4 smartphones will feature higher average selling points.
As far as smartphone sales go, Asus sold around 17.5 million ZenFone smartphones last year, slightly lower than back in 2015 when it shipped 20.5 million units.
The company's mobile division operated in the red in the first three quarters of 2016, but came back in full force in the last quarter. Unfortunately, the profits it gained in Q4 were not enough to cover the losses in the other three quarters.
But the good news is Asus still has two new smartphones in the pipeline, the ZenFone AR and ZenFone 3 Zoom, which could boost its profits even further and push its revenues in the black area.
Both ZenFone AR and ZenFone 3 Zoom are expected to make their debut on the market in February, but an exact release date will be confirmed closer to launch.
