Asus aims to grow Phl presence

MANILA, Philippines - Taiwanese smartphone maker Asus is looking to grow sales in the country this year as it aims to improve its position in the market through the launch of the new Zenfone 4 series.

Asus Philippines country manager George Su said during the launch of the new Zenfone 4 series the firm is looking to achieve higher growth in the second semester after posting a 42 percent growth in  smartphone sales in the first half.

“My boss gave me a much higher target in the coming second half of the year. So definitely, we will grow much higher than 42 percent,” he said.

Apart from achieving higher sales this year, he said Asus would also want to improve its position in the smartphone market.

At present, Asus occupies the fifth spot in the smartphone market in the country.

“We hope to be number four by the end of the year because of the new Zenfone and because of the Christmas season,” Su said.

Asus chief executive officer Jerry Shen said the firm is upbeat the Zenfone 4 series would be received well in the Philippine market given improvements made in terms of the design, camera, as well as the audio from the previous Zenfone series.

“We improved a lot on the new one. It is simpler and faster. Facebook, everything is much faster than before,” he said.

As the camera is among the considerations of users when purchasing smartphones, the new Zenfone 4 was designed to allow users to have an incomparable mobile photography experience.

The Zenfone 4 which costs P28,995 features a 12-megapixel (MP) main camera equipped with the Sony IMX362 image sensor with large 1.4µm pixels and a wide, F1.8 aperture lens to capture up to five times brighter and clearer photos in low light.

The Zenfone 4 Pro which will be made available via pre-order next month at a price tag of P39,995 meanwhile, has a dual-lens camera system featuring a standard camera with the Sony flagship IMX362 image sensor, an F1.7 aperture lens and a 10 times total zoom capability, and a front-facing selfie camera with fast phase-detection auto-focus, making it at par with professional cameras.

Asus is also making available the Zenfone Selfie for customers who love taking selfies through the variants: Zenfone 4 Selfie and Zenfone 4 Selfie Pro at more affordable prices.

The Zenfone 4 Selfie which has a dual-lens front camera of 20MP base camera and a 120 degree super wide-angle camera to capture selfies and wefies is priced at P13,995.

As for the Zenfone 4 Selfie Pro which has a dual-lens front camera of 24MP base camera as well as 120 degree super wide-angle camera, and is perfect for taking low-light selfies, the price tag is P18,995.