At the most recent Asus investors conference, we learned that the new strategy moving forward would utilize what is called “generational” releases. This means “3” for this years main products including Zenfone 3, ZenBook 3 and Transformer 3. We now believe that the next batch of ZenPad tablets, or at least a few of them will be known as ZenPad 3.
We’ve just seen news of the upcoming ZenPad 3S 10 (Z500M). Certain there is a “3” in the product name but it’s not clear if it will be marketed as a ZenPad 3 or not. We do believe that the recent sighting of a Z581KL will be known at the ZenPad 3 8.0 model. Would this mean the end of the ZenPad S 8.0 series or will there be a ZenPad 3S 8.0 model? At this point it is speculation.
We do think that the Zenbook 3 can give some insights. That particular ZenBook model is one of the best, most powerful laptops on the market. None of the other ZenBook models have the ZenBook 3 naming. It’s only the true top hero model. So in the case of ZenPad, having a ZenPad 3 may just be indicative enough to show it’s the flagship model. With what we’ve seen with the ZenPad 3S 10, it does muddy the waters for our naming theory. However it’s not clear if the “3S” is something specific to the feature set of the Z500M.
The reality is that Asus is thinning out the tablet line-up. Their previous naming conventions are going to be changed, and clearly this is happening already. Quite honestly, having something clean like ZenPad 3 8.0 or ZenPad 3 7.0 is ideal and easier to follow for consumers. The ZenPad 3S 10 has confused matters, but lets see how Asus unveils the new series on July 12.