New Delhi: AI demand has a new casualty in the form of Asus, which is happy to forgo its phone business and focus more on AI and commercial PCs in the market. The company has recently confirmed its plans to pause phone launches in 2026, which means the ROG Phone and ZenFone series will not be refreshed in the market. Asus is the latest tech giant to reconsider its business plans for 2026 and the next few years. They have already seen storage brands overhaul their product strategy, while some have completely shifted focus to making enterprise-level memory chips that will run the AI data centres.
Asus is one of the many brands that are having second thoughts about keeping the phone business going. The company believes that AI systems will help its business grow rather than phone sales. Asus wants to make AI servers for clients who will be powering various AI models and other hardware designs catering to AI platforms. Short-term strategy whatsoever, and they might have been the last of Asus smartphones in the market.
The company is not entirely giving up on its users. The company has assured that existing users will continue to get updates and service support for all its existing ROG Phone and ZenFone models, which means the regular service will be available for those using Asus devices. Asus is a strong player in the PC segment, where its laptops and AIOs sell well, but it also has other PC components that enable users to assemble systems. With the craze to build AI machines, the pivot could be part of a long-term play that helps it grow and stay relevant in the changing landscape.
