ASUS appears to be winding down its smartphone division as retail inventories run dry across major markets. Retailers in Taiwan have stopped providing price quotes for flagship models like the Zenfone 12 Ultra, signaling an end to existing warehouse stock. With component costs climbing and 0 new models planned for 2026, the company faces an exit from the mobile phone market after more than 20 years of production.
Distributors in Taiwan emptied remaining channel inventory during the 4th quarter. Pricing tracker SOGI confirmed that local carriers and retail shops no longer list active prices for the 256GB edition of the Zenfone 12 Ultra. Retailers are unable to request fresh stock from local supply channels, pulling the brand off physical and digital store shelves entirely.
The supply shortage follows a freeze on research and production. ASUS previously confirmed to media outlet Economic Daily News that 2026 would see 0 new smartphone models released. Soaring memory costs and rising hardware component prices continue to make small batch manufacturing financially unsustainable for the company.
The ROG Phone 9 series and the Zenfone 12 Ultra stand as the final handset releases from ASUS. Both product lines represented the culmination of a 2018 restructuring that narrowed production to focus purely on gaming devices and power users. That restructuring required NT$6.2 billion in one-time write-downs, including inventory losses and organizational adjustments.
ASUS began building mobile phones in 2003 with the release of the ASUS J100. In 2014, the company expanded its consumer footprint with the Zenfone line, selling nearly 10 million handsets worldwide through competitive pricing. Persistent profit deficits across the mobile unit and aggressive parts pricing in 2026 have left ASUS without an active handset lineup on retail shelves.
Source: ithome
