The worldwide smartphone market may be dropping one other member, as ASUS shockingly confirmed this week that it does not plan to launch new smartphones in 2026.
The final ASUS ROG Cellphone mannequin launched in late 2024, with the corporate solely releasing the ASUS Zenfone 12 Extremely in early 2025. Though ASUS is not falling by the wayside on smartphones fully, the model’s official statements counsel that in a best-case situation, it will be one other 12 months earlier than we see one other ASUS telephone.
ASUS will not make new Zenfone or ROG Cellphone fashions this yr
The DigiTimes report cites Taiwanese smartphone distributors who turned unable to accumulate ASUS telephones by common channels, and additional alleged that their obtainable info steered the corporate’s cellular operations would solely proceed by the top of December 2025.
The publication contacted ASUS, which mentioned it “clearly communicated to telecom channels that its smartphone operations will proceed and that upkeep, software program upgrades, and guarantee companies for all present merchandise won’t be affected.”
Then, there’s the catch — ASUS additionally advised DigiTimes that it “at present has no plans to introduce new smartphone fashions in 2026.” On the similar time, the corporate doubled down on the truth that it will “preserve its present working mannequin.” It is pretty unusual for a smartphone producer to go a complete yr with out releasing new fashions, although.
If ASUS stays agency in its estimation that it’ll not launch a brand new telephone in 2026, it will go greater than two years (26 months, to be actual) with out an ASUS ROG Cellphone sequence refresh, on the very least. Assuming January 2027 can be the earliest ASUS might launch upgraded smartphones, we might additionally go practically two years with out a new Zenfone.
In a best-case situation based mostly on the obtainable info, each of ASUS’ flagship smartphone lineups would have successfully skipped two generations. That’s, if we take ASUS’ phrase that its smartphone operations should not nearing an finish.
ASUS claims it is not executed within the smartphone market, however I am skeptical
Taking what’s successfully a two-year hiatus from releasing smartphones feels robust for an organization to come back again from. Whereas the model’s assertion claims smartphone operations will proceed, it does not explicitly state that new fashions can be launched past 2026. As a substitute, ASUS’ feedback to DigiTimes focuses on issues like “complete after-sales help” that features “guarantee protection and software program updates.”
In different phrases, ASUS desires prospects to know that the corporate is not going to desert them — software program help guarantees and guarantee protection can be honored. Actually, the corporate shipped main software program updates to latest fashions as lately as November 2025. That is when Android 16 arrived for the ROG Cellphone 9, ROG Cellphone 9 Professional, and the Zenfone 12 Extremely.
It is actually doable that ASUS bounces again stronger than ever in 2027, but it surely’s additionally doable that the corporate is slowly shuttering its smartphone enterprise. Progress in a aggressive area is difficult to realize with out flashy new choices, and the issues ASUS confronted — which can have included restricted regional and mobile service availability — will probably nonetheless be issues post-2026.
The lack of ASUS telephones, momentary or everlasting, is disappointing
I can not say I am fully shocked by this choice, as a result of I’ve discovered a few of ASUS’ smartphone choices over the previous few years to be perplexing.
The largest one was the selection to transform the Zenfone line from a singular set of small flagship telephones to “Extremely” variants in bigger type components. The ASUS Zenfone 10 was the final 5.9-inch telephone with premium {hardware} and few compromises. Now, the Zenfone 12 Extremely has a 6.78-inch display and little differentiating traits to separate it from each different flagship.
One other questionable transfer was going all-in on the $1,000+ sector of the smartphone market. Extra particularly, chasing high-end flagship gross sales with out offering a premium expertise to match the worth level. Telephones costing that a lot with solely two assured Android OS upgrades are practically dead-on-arrival when Samsung and Google are providing seven.
Nonetheless, ASUS deserves reward for having the braveness to strive new issues, even when it did not all the time see them by. It made small telephones at a time when each different model had left them behind. Equally, it put a number of USB-C ports on ROG Cellphone fashions for years, serving to the lineup develop an identification as a gaming-focused Android telephone for energy customers.
I hope this is not the top of ASUS telephones, as a result of if it is not attempting loopy issues, who will? As somebody who requested for extra twin USB-C port telephones in 2026, the lack of a brand new ROG Cellphone means my yearly wishlist is off to a nasty begin.
