Asus CEO Jerry Shen on Friday revealed at an investor conference that his company will introduce a low-cost variant of the Zenfone 2 smartphone in the second half of 2015, which will use a Qualcomm processor.
Shen hasn’t shared any specifics of this upcoming model, but he noted that the Qualcomm-powered Zenfone 2 variant will target the mass market, while the Intel-powered Zenfone 2 is meant for the higher-end market.
In addition to the Intel and Qualcomm-powered Zenfone-series phones, Asus will also introduce a MediaTek processor-based Zenfone 2-series phone, which will reach India, which is still a big 3G market.
“For 3G phones that are popular in markets like India, the company plans to launch a MediaTek-based ZenFone in the second half of 2015 as the successor to the current Intel-based models,” wrote Focus Taiwan citing Jerry Shen. There is no word on the specifics of the MediaTek model too.
Shen stated that he expects that roughly 40-50 percent of the Zenfone shipments will use Qualcomm chips, with the remaining 50-60 percent split by Intel and MediaTek.
Asus has also revealed that Zenfone 2 roll-out schedule and it will go on sale in March in Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore, China and France, followed by Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, Thailand, the United States and Italy in April. Japan will get Zenfone 2 in May and Brazil in June. There is no word on the India release.
Media-Tek in India?!
I was going to buy the 4GB, Intel 2.3GHz variant but now that they’re going to introduce the MediaTek version, I’m dumping the plan to buy the ZenFone 2.
Poor decision Asus, really Poor decision.
They are still launching Intel version in India, they got three price points. MTK and Snapdragon are just the base budget model for the 720p 5 inch screen.
I hope that’s the case, because MediaTek is frowned upon here!
Asus is just making a three tier model. Of course flagship will still be available, I’m just worried it will be far more than the $300 I want to pay.
There was a thing in my head that I’ve read the name ‘Karly Johnstone’ somewhere!
Was going through an Android Authority video on YouTube and there it was, the top comment on the video!
Saw your comment on the video regarding the ZenFone 2 and you’re probably as excited as I am!
Give us Snapdragon and Intel in INDIA. I dont want Media Tek