Here is an interesting quote from Jerry Shen, Asus CEO from their Q2 investors conference in August 2016. He talks about the Zenfone 3 Ultra in the US market and here is what he said about the Zenfone 3 Ultra:
This has been very well received. For example, we didn’t plan to launch this in the US but many celebrities in the US are asking for it because this is very unique…”
I don’t think this means you should get your hopes up just yet. It’s possible when Shen says “didn’t plan to launch this in the US” that he was really saying they have changed their initial launch plans. However, there is translation involved here. Shen’s use of the word “didn’t” could very well mean “won’t” launch the Zenfone 3 Ultra in the US. As in, “we aren’t launching this in the US” is perhaps what he was really saying.
Please vote in this poll and only US and Canada residents are allowed to choose “Yes” or “No”. We appreciate your understanding!
We hope that there will be some options for the North American market in the near future. When shopping on places like eBay, you can pretty much buy any of the Zenfone 3 models. However there are about three main issues. First, what about the Asus warranty? Second, what about the plug-in adapters and the standard used in the country of origin? Third, what about the network compatibility in the US or Canada?
All those questions are legitimate. We are efforting to get some clarification on most of those potential issues. Taiwan plug-in adapters are matching that of the US and Canada. That’s one hurdle overcome. The warranty? That’s just a leap of faith that the phone won’t have issues. The compatibility issues we can and will get solid answers about what will and won’t work and the consequences of not having all of the network bands.
Stay tuned, we will update this post as we move ahead. What we truly want to see is a FCC submission for the Zenfone 3 Ultra! It really depends if you take Jerry Shen’s quote as being something meaningful or not.
At the very least, contribute to our poll if you live in the US or Canada and that can at least send a small indicator to Asus. Do you think they are listening?
Why don’t they bring this phone to the US? It cant be that hard to make it so it works with the US networks? They already have phones that they sell here in the US.