Asus had some problems launching the ZenFone 4 series of phones in the market. Earlier the company missed its deadline for the launch which was set to be in April. However, now a PhoneArena report indicates that the launch of the phone may have been delayed until August this year. Asus revealed the ZenFone 4 Max some days ago, but four new handsets belonging to the same series are expected to be introduced into the markets soon.
Asus handset release delayed until August
Fans have been previously disappointed by the postponement of the ZenFone 4 launch in April.
However, latest delay news of the handset will also be heartbreaking for those fans. This decision would severely restrict the profitability of Asus in the third quarter of 2017 and take the company through a difficult time.
Upon launch in the Asian markets in August, the ZenFone 4 will have to compete with handsets such as the Xiaomi Mi Max 2, Mi 6, HTC U11, Oppo R11, and Vivo X9s Plus. All of these devices are also highly awaited in the Asian countries and brings into question whether Asus’s ZenFone 4 can hold its own among these premium handsets.
In the global market, Asus will have to compete with the smartphones that are scheduled to be launched by Huawei, Samsung, Sony, Lenovo, and even HMD Global.
All of these companies are expected to launch handsets at the IFA event to be held in Berlin, Germany at the end of August. So, it is highly unlikely that Asus will be able to create a market for its ZenFone 4 among all of these bigwigs in the mobile industry.
Previous delays for the handset
After missing out on the April deadline, Asus was expected to launch the ZenFone 4 series of handsets in May, but the company failed to do so even then.
In fact, no word regarding the smartphones surfaced in June either until finally, CEO of Asus Jerry Shen revealed that the devices would be unveiled by the end of July. This time around the company revealed the ZenFone 4 Max in July, but the new reports indicate that the other four handsets have been pushed back into August.
This is the second time that Asus has had to delay an entire batch of smartphones. Back in 2016, the company managed to ship just 10 million units of it's ZenFone 3, which was much lesser than the targeted 25 million units. This delay in shipment ultimately cost the company and it reported suffering net operating losses in the first half of 2017. It remains to be seen how swiftly the company launches the next-gen phone.
