Taiwanese company Asus has been known for making devices, ranging from laptops, smartphones and wearables. But it looks like the manufacturer might be waving the white flag on one of these product lineups.
According to news site Digi Times, Asus is reportedly calling it quits on Android Wear. Google’s Android Wear has been at a crawling pace when it comes to development, with Android Wear 2.0 delayed by months, and only available on a fraction of compatible wearables today.
Asus is also said to stop the development of its ZenWatch line, which means that we might not be expecting a ZenWatch refresh in the future. The company unveiled the original ZenWatch in 2014, and the latest ZenWatch 3 late last year. The reason behind the possible discontinuation is said to be of smartwatch sales being lower than expected.
However, discontinuing a product line and a watch OS does not entirely mean that Asus is giving up on its wearable business. Back in 2015, the company launched the VivoWatch, a lifestyle and fitness tracking smartwatch which runs on Asus’ own software. It works more like a standalone device and is relatively cheaper than the ZenWatch line of wearables.
Time will tell as to whether Asus is really calling it quits on Android Wear and the ZenWatch line for good. The company is still thriving pretty well in the laptop and smartphone industries respectively.
