ASUS is apparently planning to spice up its ZenFone lineup later this year by packing Qualcomm and MediaTek chipsets, according to a new report.
So far, ASUS ZenFone smartphones have launched with Intel processors under the hood, but the company is reportedly looking at new variants with different processors. ASUS has added both Qualcomm and MediaTek to its supplier list, aiming to add more diversity to its ZenFone smartphone range.
ASUS announced these plans on Friday, Feb. 13, according to a new report from Focus Taiwan.
The original ASUS ZenFone made its debut back in January 2014, packing an Intel chip under the hood. The device quickly rose in popularity and the company saw monthly shipments of 1.5 million units in the fourth quarter of last year, CEO Jerry Shen revealed at an investors conference.
The current ASUS ZenFone 2, meanwhile, made its official debut at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) 2015 back in January and is set to hit commercial availability next month in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, India, and France. In April, the smartphone will hit other markets such as Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, Italy, and the U.S. The phablet is then set to hit Japan in April or May, and Brazil in June.
The 4G-enabled ZenFone 2 is competing at the high end of the smartphone market and aims to double the company's smartphone shipments to 17 million units this year, Focus Taiwan points out.
As a reminder, the ZenFone 2 sports a large 5.5-inch display with a full HD resolution of 1920 x 1080 pixels and, a 64-bit Intel Atom Z3580 processor clocked at 2.3GHz, 4GB of RAM, 32GB of internal storage capacity, microSD support for additional memory, a 13-megapixel rear camera, a 5-megapixel front shooter, and a 3,000 mAh battery, among the highlights. On the software side, the device runs Android 5.0 Lollipop out of the box.
According to Focus Taiwan, Shen said that ASUS plans to unleash a ZenFone 2 variant with a Qualcomm processor and a lower price tag in the second quarter of this year, with the mainstream market in mind. Meanwhile, the company will also launch a MediaTek-based ZenFone in the second half of this year, and this variant will reportedly come as the successor to the current model that packs an Intel processor.
With Intel, Qualcomm, and MediaTek on board, Shen estimates that roughly 40 - 50 percent of the ZenFone shipments will pack Qualcomm chips, while the remaining 50 - 60 percent will come with Intel and MediaTek chips. The MediaTek-powered variants are reportedly targeted at the Indian market.
