Asus has reiterated that it will “no longer” be making “new” Android smartphones with its focus shifting towards the market built up by AI.
During its “2025 Year-End Gala” earlier this month, Inside reports that Asus chairman Jonney Shih directly confirmed that the company will exit the Android smartphone market.
When asked about the move, he said (translated) that “Asus will no longer add new mobile phone models in the future,” further adding that the company will “continue to take care of the brand’s mobile phone users.” This could be taken in one of two ways, with Asus either exiting the smartphone market altogether or just ending the development of new smartphone models beyond existing lineups, but in context, it’s clearly the former.
Further comments from the chairman revealed that Asus is shifting its resources away from smartphones in order to align with the “paradigm shift” that is… AI. Of course.
The company is apparently using the resources previously spent on mobile phones to bolster “commercial PCs and physical AI devices,” including “AI Robot & Robotics” and “AI Glasses.”
What in the Devil’s name are “A.I. glasses”?
A means to collect even more personal information for sale to data brokers.
Smart glasses with a rebrand.
I’d be wary of smart glasses though, they’re the holy grail of data harvesting. Companies will be able to see exactly what holds people’s attention, what they look at most, what tempts them most, as well as see any personal information you look at, what physical goods you own and interact with, etc.
There’s a reason Google chased it so hard, and why companies like Meta are trying to do it now.
And people basically just used it to film themselves fucking and awkwardly record social situations without consent. Hence the users got the name glassholes.
While the snark is very much deserved, it’s most likely augmented reality glasses. Either providing virtual screens like say XReal or Viture, thus smaller and less cumbersome than Apple Vision. Or something a lot more wearable like the Meta Rayban sunglasses with POV camera and speakers.
They can cram any kind of AI fluff in there.