The Asus ZenFone 3 was a major step up from its predecessor mainly in terms of design. The company finally ditched plastic bodies and opted for a glass-metal build that made the Asus ZenFone 3 a impressive looking phone. Today, we are still yet to see its successor, the Asus ZenFone 4.
But Asustek CEO, Jerry Shen, has disclosed to Digitimes that the new flagship was due to launch in May. On the verge of launch, the company postponed the flagship citing “design overhaul and efficiency upgrades” as the reason for the delay. Now, we expect the device to launch at the end of July.
The Asus ZenFone 4 surprisingly remains a very shadowy device as very little is known about its specs. Nonetheless, we expect the standard model to come with a 5.5-inch display and cost around $500 in Taiwan (~NT 15,000). There will also be differently sized variants of the device.
Asustek is aiming for profitability in 2017. But the delay of the Asus ZenFone 4 will likely be a setback for those plans. The company’s smartphone business has sustained operating losses at the start of 2017. With the launch of the ZenFone 5, Shen thinks they can return to profitability with the new flagship.
Asus also has revealed enthusiastic plans to launch the ZenFone 5 quickly after the ZenFone 4 at MWC 2018 which will start on February 26, 2018.
