Two phone manufacturers bite the dust - Asus and OnePlus

[Pink Jazz]

It looks like just in this past week, two phone manufacturers have decided to call it quits - Asus and OnePlus. Both brands have largely competed in the mid-range and flagship phone space, and just this past week both decided to discontinue their line of smartphones. Previously, we had BlackBerry, LG, and Kyocera pull the plug, and it looks like Asus and OnePlus are now in the graveyard of phone brands.

I think Sony Xperia might possibly be next. They have already exited the US market due to lack of carrier interest, and their global market share is in decline. Apparently, none of these manufacturers are able to get close to the market share of Samsung or Apple.

 

[Judge]

A disturbing, though predictable trend in high tech. That the biggest, most capitalized players dominate the market, even though their products at times are less than what the market wants or expects.

When the "big boys" rest on their industrial laurels longer than they should in uncomfortable economic times. Thing is, mediocrity never seems a good fit for high technology consumer products. Yet it so well defines the status quo.

Too bad about Asus though. I suspect they are still reeling from their unfortunate experience with motherboards made for Intel 13th and 14th gen cpus that were fraught with problems. Hopefully Intel's latest cpu line will allow Asus to again get the respect of consumers with their latest motherboards as well. Though it does seem that they still need to expand into other products just to keep the brand name competitive.

Meanwhile I know the gaming community is not happy with both Intel and Asus. But then it seems the industry has abandoned the interests and expectations of gamers altogether, in favor of AI research and development.

Making my inevitable entry into the smartphone market this year uncomfortable at best.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

I watched first hand as Apple was declared dead, then they rehired steve jobs , so never say never.

 

[velociraptor]

It looks like just in this past week, two phone manufacturers have decided to call it quits - Asus and OnePlus. Both brands have largely competed in the mid-range and flagship phone space, and just this past week both decided to discontinue their line of smartphones. Previously, we had BlackBerry, LG, and Kyocera pull the plug, and it looks like Asus and OnePlus are now in the graveyard of phone brands.

I think Sony Xperia might possibly be next. They have already exited the US market due to lack of carrier interest, and their global market share is in decline. Apparently, none of these manufacturers are able to get close to the market share of Samsung or Apple.

I expect Motorola to ditch soon.

 

[Pink Jazz]

I expect Motorola to ditch soon.

Motorola (owned by Lenovo) is still in a distant third place in the United States, and has a strong presence in the US prepaid market, especially after LG's exit. Unless there is a serious decline in market share, I don't see them going anywhere at this time. I think the next to fold will be Sony Xperia.

 

[Matthias]

I wish more of these companies would go out of business due to bad policies that make their phones not worth buying. While reputable companies (such as Apple and Samsung) offer 5 - 7 years of security updates, other companies only offer 2 - 3 years of security updates. That starts from when the phone you bought was first introduced so getting one on sale 1 year after it first came out means you only get 1 to 2 years of security updates. No one who spends $800 on an Asus or Motorola phone should have to throw it away after 2 years because the manufacturer refuses to provide updates that are needed to keep it secure. Some phones on sale for $400 have to be thrown out after just 1 year of use if you don't want to risk someone hacking into your phone and stealing your financial information.