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Exclusive: Asus ZenFone 3 confirmed, set to feature USB-C

A growing number of smartphone manufacturers are jumping on the USB Type-C bandwagon, and Asus is nearly ready to make the leap.

The company has revealed that its next major entry to the flagship ZenFone series will feature a USB Type-C port.

We asked Asus chairman Jonney Shih whether Asus would eventually adopt USB Type-C for the ZenFone during an exclusive interview with TrustedReviews.

“I think Type C is the way to go, frankly speaking,” Shih told us. “You will see the answer when you see the ZenFone 3.”

Related: Nexus, VR, and robots: 6 things we learned from Asus Chairman Jonney Shih

We also asked Shih why Asus didn’t include USB Type-C on the this year’s ZenFone 2.

“Of course you know now the cost, right? For ZenFone, each cent counts right?” explained the Asus boss. “But we never only think about the cost. We always think about the cost and the value at the same time.”


Shih continued: “So I think it’s more a timing issue, frankly speaking. Yeah, what’s the right timing? We normally want to be a little bit ahead.”

“But if you’re too much ahead, then sometimes it may be a disaster, right? So that’s our strategy. We’re still not like Apple. [Apple] can always try to lead in a very aggressive way,” the Asus Chairman added. “We would like to be more aggressive than other competitors, but sometimes we also need to be a little bit practical. Make the trade-off, frankly speaking.”

Apple was one of the first manufacturers to use the USB Type-C standard, featuring the technology on its new 12-inch MacBook earlier this year.

However, USB Type-C also appeared on a number of smartphones, including the OnePlus 2, and Google’s new Nexus 5X and Nexus 6P.

Would you like to see more manufacturers include USB Type-C technology on their devices? Let us know in the comments.

Check out our exclusive interview with Asus chairman Jonney Shih below:

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