Asus may be preparing for one of its biggest strategy shifts in years. According to recent remarks from chairman Jonney Shih, the company is planning to stop releasing new smartphones, putting future Zenfone and ROG Phone launches on hold while it redirects energy and investment into fast-growing AI-driven product categories.
At a company year-end event on January 16, Shih indicated that Asus will not introduce new phone models going forward. For fans of the Zenfone line and gamers who typically look to the ROG Phone series for high-performance mobile hardware, this signals a major pause in what has been a recognizable part of Asus’ consumer lineup. That said, Asus is expected to continue supporting existing smartphone models during the transition, which should reassure current owners who rely on software updates and service coverage.
So why would a well-known hardware brand step back from smartphones now? The answer appears to be AI. Like many global tech companies, Asus is reshaping its roadmap to pursue higher-margin opportunities tied to artificial intelligence. Shih highlighted two key areas of focus for the company’s next phase: AI robotics (including autonomous and semi-autonomous machines) and AI smart glasses.
The financial motivation behind the pivot becomes clearer when looking at Asus’ recent performance. While the company reported strong year-over-year revenue growth, a significant portion of that momentum has been linked to expanded AI server deployment. In other words, the biggest growth engines right now aren’t phones—they’re AI infrastructure products and the ecosystem being built around them.
Still, moving into smart glasses is not without risk. Asus has produced respected phones, but it never truly dominated the premium smartphone market, despite the Zenfone’s compact appeal and the ROG Phone’s gaming-first reputation. Meanwhile, smart glasses as a category have historically struggled to reach mainstream audiences, often held back by practicality concerns, limited everyday use cases, and price. The difference in 2026 is that AI features—like real-time translation, contextual assistance, and hands-free productivity—could make smart glasses far more useful than earlier generations.
Industry watchers also expect Asus’ hardware direction to evolve alongside this shift. With Qualcomm playing a major role in both mobile computing and emerging AI platforms, Asus could lean more heavily on Snapdragon-based products in categories beyond phones. That may mean more laptops featuring Snapdragon X processors and additional development tied to Qualcomm’s robotics-focused platforms that support more capable autonomous systems.
Asus also addressed another topic affecting the broader PC and device market: memory supply constraints. Shih acknowledged that RAM shortages could push prices higher across laptops and other hardware categories. Asus plans to reduce the impact through supply chain coordination and product design decisions, but some price increases are already happening. The company has raised prices on select notebooks and desktops, and while it reportedly has enough components to delay further hikes in the short term, customers should still be prepared for potential pricing pressure as memory costs fluctuate.
For consumers, the biggest takeaway is clear: if you’re waiting for the next Zenfone or a new ROG Phone, it may not arrive anytime soon. Asus appears to be placing its bets on the AI era—where smart glasses, robotics, and AI-focused hardware could offer stronger growth than an increasingly crowded smartphone market.
