Asus’ Padfone could be facing delays due to chip shortage

The Asus Padfone was, and still is regarded as a very unique device. After all, it is a smartphone, tablet and laptop hybrid. Launched at Mobile World Congress in late February, expectations were that it would launch sometime in April. April has been and gone and the only Padfone news in recent weeks has been pre-orders beginning in Taiwan and rumours of an Italian launch later in May.

A recent tweet from Asus' Indonesia division brings up the possibility of the Padfone launch being delayed in at least some areas. The tweet roughly translates to the fact that Qualcomm is still experiencing Snapdragon S4 shortages and that this is the chipset being used in the Padfone. The Verge got in contact with Asus and a company spokesperson confirmed that the Snapdragon S4 platform is indeed facing shortages.

While this does not confirm that the Padfone will indeed face a delay it is certainly possible. Especially so given the facts that nearly of the USA's LTE enabled networks will need a Snapdragon chipset within its phones and the chipsets are being produced on a relatively infant 28nm manufacturing process.

KitGuru says: Delays are never good, especially for niche products like the Padfone. Hopefully the possibility of delays remain just that; possibilities.

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