Asus Smartphones 2014: Producer of Nexus 7 2nd Generation To Enter US Smartphone Market
Asus isn’t known for smartphones but it is working on entering the US market soon. Asus is fairly well known for the Nexus 7 and Nexus 7 2nd generation refresh, but they haven’t branched out into smartphones for the US market. We got some sense that they are starting with smartphones during Computext 2013 when we get to see two Asus products that seemed geared to the “phablet†market. One of them is the Padfone Infinity:
The 4.7-inch HD smartphone that came with their Padfone Infinity was pretty impressive with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 series 1.7 GHz quad-core processor, which then docked into their 10-inch tablet to become a full-fledged Android tablet. Their Padfone series should need no introduction, but the smartphone side of things have been pretty quiet here in the US.
The Fonepad, meanwhile, is a 7-inch tablet capable of also making phone calls. That product was designed to take advantage of the fact that phones are being used less and less for calling and more for their computing prowess.
It’s difficult to say how well the device will be received in the US market. Despite the positive reaction to the Nexus 7 and Nexus 7 2, Asus is fairly untested when it comes to smartphones. Much of it will depend on what market Asus is planning on competing in. If Asus goes up against flagships like the Galaxy Note 3, Sony Xperia Z Ultra, LG G2 and other high end devices it is unlikely to fare well unless it offers something extremely innovative.
The standard mid-range smartphone market may also pose a problem with the upcoming Moto X likely to seize much of the attention. It remains to be seen how Asus will handle these rivals when they enter the 2014 market.