Asus has confirmed that it has discontinued its older gaming smartphone, the Asus ROG Phone 3. Dinesh Sharma, Head, Asus India, told The Mobile Indian that the company has discontinued the ROG Phone 2.
“Considering the recent depreciation of Indian currency and increase in GST, the Asus ROG Phone 2 will sell around Rs 43,000 in the country. If we add a 30W fast charger with ROG Phone 2, it will cost around Rs 45,000. For Rs 49,999 we are giving you Asus ROG Phone 3, which comes as a complete package and it offers much better specs and features as compared to its predecessor. So, what will you buy?” Sharma said.
On being asked whether the company has discarded the Max and Max Pro series in India, he said, “We never said that we will vacate from a segment or will not launch any smartphone in this segment. We only said we will focus on power users and gamers. As you know, Asus always brings innovative products to the market and we are determined to bring innovative products to the market,” he said. In the Indian smartphone market, the hot-selling segment is the budget segment that goes from Rs 10,000 to Rs 15,000. Asus had a good grip in this segment with its Max and Max Pro smartphones. However, it has been a while since the company has launched a new smartphone in this segment.
For Asus, the year 2019 saw a good release of smartphones at regular intervals of time. However, by the time of Q4 of 2020, the intensity of launches was slowed down. On being asked why there is a delay in launching the smartphones in different series, he added that the company will try to bring smartphones in different series at a regular interval of time.
Coming to the problem of shipment and the non-availability of its latest smartphones, he said: “Due to the Coronavirus pandemic, the whole industry came to standstill. However, we are trying to keep up with the demand of smartphones.” On rolling out timely updates, he says that the brand rolls out security updates every two months and at least one or Android OS upgrade. “We are committed to provide a timely update to our smartphones,” he added.
On the Make in India initiative and whether the company is looking to set up manufacturing units in India, he said, “We support the Make in India initiative by the government and the recent announcement of giving rebates for setting plants in India is a good decision as well. I think we have to strengthen the component industry in the country so that we can produce all the components required for making all types of products. India’s growth is promising and multiple supply chain manufacturers will set up their plants in the country.”