Two phone manufacturers bite the dust in a week - Asus and OnePlus

[Pink Jazz]

It looks like just in this past week, two phone manufacturers have decided to call it quits - Asus and OnePlus. Both brands have largely competed in the mid-range and flagship phone space, and just this past week both decided to discontinue their line of smartphones. Previously, we had BlackBerry, LG, and Kyocera pull the plug, and it looks like Asus and OnePlus are now in the graveyard of phone brands.

I think Sony Xperia might possibly be next. They have already exited the US market due to lack of carrier interest, and their global market share is in decline. Apparently, none of these manufacturers are able to get close to the market share of Samsung or Apple.

[kphoger]

I didn't realize Kyocera was already out of the game.

[Takumi]

Asus made phones?

[Pink Jazz]

Asus made phones?

Yes. They were known for the ROG line of gaming phones. However, they had very little distribution in the US due to lack of carrier interest.

[formulanone]

Asus made phones?

This is like finding out that there's a Texas Instruments clock radio.

[kphoger]

Asus made phones?

This is like finding out that there's a Texas Instruments clock radio.

I used to mess with Indian scammers when they'd call about my extended car warranty, by telling them I had a 2008 Mercedes Trailblazer.

[ZLoth]

I wonder how much of this decision is related to getting the necessary components to build the phones. Even Samsung the phone maker can't get their orders fulfilled by Samsung the memory chip maker.

[Henry]

Asus made phones?

This is like finding out that there's a Texas Instruments clock radio.

I used to mess with Indian scammers when they'd call about my extended car warranty, by telling them I had a 2008 Mercedes Trailblazer.

That's a genius idea, tricking them by naming cars that don't exist!

[kphoger]

I used to mess with Indian scammers when they'd call about my extended car warranty, by telling them I had a 2008 Mercedes Trailblazer.

That's a genius idea, tricking them by naming cars that don't exist!

— What model of vehicle do you have?
— A 2008 Mercedes Trailblazer.
— Do you mean a Chevy Trailblazer?
— No, it's the Mercedes one.
— Are you sure?  I know Chevy made a 2008 Trailblazer.
— Yes, I'm sure.  It's not the Chevy one, it's the Mercedes one.
— ... Hmmm ... OK ... Hold on, let me transfer you to my supervisor.
— Sure, no problem.
— [supervisor, having Googled it] Are you talking about a bicycle?
— Yes.  My vehicle is a bicycle.
— * click *

My all-time favorite time, though, was when I kept stringing a credit card scammer along for about 15 minutes and had convinced him that I had a Disney Diners Club credit card.

[formulanone]

I used to mess with Indian scammers when they'd call about my extended car warranty, by telling them I had a 2008 Mercedes Trailblazer.

That's a genius idea, tricking them by naming cars that don't exist!

— What model of vehicle do you have?
— A 2008 Mercedes Trailblazer.
— Do you mean a Chevy Trailblazer?
— No, it's the Mercedes one.
— Are you sure?  I know Chevy made a 2008 Trailblazer.
— Yes, I'm sure.  It's not the Chevy one, it's the Mercedes one.
— ... Hmmm ... OK ... Hold on, let me transfer you to my supervisor.
— Sure, no problem.
— [supervisor, having Googled it] Are you talking about a bicycle?
— Yes.  My vehicle is a bicycle.
— * click *

My all-time favorite time, though, was when I kept stringing a credit card scammer along for about 15 minutes and had convinced him that I had a Disney Diners Club credit card.

I was at an Audi dealership near Washington DC and they had "loaner" bikes if you wished. ¿Vamos a Vanmoof?

I told one vehicle warranty sales caller I owned a Cessna 172 (for the record, no I don't). I told another I had a 1968 Dodge Challenger R/T (I felt guilty about this one because the lady on the other end was impressed, and I felt like I lied to my grandma).

I usually don't pick up these unknown calls but if the area code just happens to be in the same place I'm at that week, I never know if it's a client or an emergency.

[SSOWorld]

You get a spam message on iOS 26's messages app and it's screened, then pushed forward to your inbox because it's time sensitive