ASUSTek may have experienced a dip in terms of devices shipped and profit in 2016, but don’t count them out just yet. They seem to not be giving up on the smartphone segment of their business as they are reportedly preparing to unleash a new Zenfone line, the 4-series, sometime later this year, probably around May. They are also targeting to increase the number of smartphones they will be shipping out to all markets as compared to their numbers from 2016.
According to sources in Taiwan, they will be releasing their Zenfone 4-series around May this year and it will contain hardware specifications and ASPs that are of course higher than last year’s Zenfone 3 devices. Last year saw them shipping 17.5 million smartphones, which is down 14.6% than their numbers from 2015 which was at 20.5 million. So it looks like they want to match the later in terms of items shipped by the end of 2017.
The good news is that in terms of profit, they made a turn-around in the last quarter of 2016 as compared to the first 3 where they were in the red. The bad news is that the fourth quarter wasn’t enough to cover the deficiencies of the first to third, and so ASUStek’s smartphone business posted loses for the whole of 2016.
Aside from the Zenfone 4-series that will reportedly be launched in May, there are also planned launches for the Zenfone 3 Zoom in February and the Zenfone AR in the next quarter. Let’s see if this will help bring up the brand in terms of sales and profit.
VIA: Digi Times
