New Age Electronics has expanded its relationship with Asus to tap into the exploding unlocked smartphone market.
The national CE and gaming distributor has begun carrying Asus’ acclaimed ZenFone 2 and related accessories, marking its entry into the category.
“As the consumer electronics market continues to change and retailers look to adjust their strategies, unlocked smartphones bring new opportunities for revenue and long-term growth,” said New Age president Fred Towns.
Indeed, U.S. shipments grew 140 percent last year to a record 14.6 million units, and sales are projected to grow 53 percent this year to some 23 million units, or 14 percent of all U.S. smartphones, according to Strategy Analytics.
In contrast, total U.S. smartphone shipments grew only 7 percent in 2015, to 158.7 million units, the market research firm said.
New Age is currently the only U.S. distributor to offer the ZenFone 2 in both 16GB and 64GB onboard memory configurations, although both variants can support up to 64GB of flash memory via Micro SD card.
The phones, introduced last year, received accolades as affordable, fully featured handsets with flagship-quality components. They feature 5.5-inch IPS full HD displays with Gorilla Glass 3 screens; 4GB of RAM; 13MP rear and 5MP front cameras; 64-bit Intel Atom 2.3GHz Quad Core processors, and carry suggested retails of $229 and $299, respectively.
The dual-SIM GSM phones, available from New Age in white and silver, are 4G/LTE capable and compatible with AT&T, T-Mobile and their affiliated prepaid and MVNO providers.
“The ASUS ZenFone 2 is an ideal product for a wide range of consumers — in addition to the product not being tied to a particular network, it is known for delivering a smarter and simpler mobile experience for users that’s supported by all-around powerful performance,” Towns noted.
New Age, a division of global IT and supply-chain services provider Synnex, also carries such ZenFone accessories as power adapters, portable chargers, earbuds, and external flashes to enhance photo quality.
The latter include the AsusLolliFlash, a dual-color LED flash that attaches to the phone to create images with true-to-life colors. The LolliFlash is available in black, white, red, yellow and blue, allowing consumers to personalize their devices.
The ZenFone addition further broadens an already expansive relationship between Asus and New Age, which already carries the vendor’s Chromebooks, desktops, gaming notebooks, tablets, wearables, displays, routers and PC components.
“Asus is excited to collaborate with New Age Electronics, allowing more consumers easy access to unlocked phones,” said Asus North America president Steve Chang. “New Age Electronics’ expertise in the retail space, combined with Asus’ innovation in mobile products, is a natural fit to seize a share of a rapidly growing market.”
New Age parent Synnex also distributes unlocked mobile phones from Acer.
For more information on New Age’s ZenFone 2 offering, call (800) 947-5974 or email [email protected].
