Summary
- Asus chairman Jonney Shih confirms the brand has no plans to launch new smartphones in 2026 and beyond.
- The brand will shift smartphone R&D towards building commercial PC and physical AI products.
- Asus ROG Phone 9 and the Zenfone 12 Ultra were the last phones from the brand.
Asus, the brand that popularised compact phones and eye-catching gaming phones, is exiting the market in 2026. The brand has been struggling to gain substantial market share over the past few years and has now decided to allocate its resources to growing sectors like AI and robotics.
Say Goodbye to Asus ROG Phones and Zenfones
In a company event held on January 16, 2025, in Taipei, Asus chairman Jonney Shih confirmed the brand's exit from the smartphone business in 2026. This comes after a report earlier this month revealed Asus plans to halt 2026 smartphone launches.
However, it will not abruptly abandon current smartphone users as existing Asus phones will keep receiving maintenance, software updates and warranty support. The brand will also continue to offer dedicated online and offline support.
This makes the Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra and ROG Phone 9 the final Asus phones ever to exist. Shih has further stated that the current smartphone research and development resources will be directed towards building commercial PC and physical AI products.
It will continue to invest and develop tech in categories like robotics and AI smart glasses. Asus is also quite popular when it comes to connectivity-based hardware like routers, laptops and PCs. The brand has also revealed that the current smartphone development team will shift to all these departments and will continue contributing to their R&D.
As for why the brand is taking this major step, there are several reasons. However, three of them are the most relevant. Firstly, over the past few years, Asus smartphones have sort of fallen off the bandwagon. From widespread popularity across the globe to only three countries in 2025, the brand has been unable to stand tall amongst Goliaths like OnePlus and Oppo.
Also, Asus' exit from India back in 2018 was a major blow to its market share. The brand repositioned itself from a budget and innovative smartphone brand to focus exclusively on premium and gaming markets. This killed their ability to reach a wider audience and deliver solely to niche buyers.
However, the biggest blow came in the form of the current RAM price hike crisis. With component costs going through the roof, the brand most likely bled out. With the current Taiwan–US tariff rate of 15%, Shih mentioned that a timely exit was the most feasible decision for the brand.
That being said, at the time of writing, it is best to consider this decision as a temporary pause rather than a complete absolution of Asus' smartphone making. Maybe in the future, when the situation favours, the iconic Zenfone and ROG phones will return again. However, till then, Asus has signed off.
