MWC: Asus only comes with WP7 device if providers are interested

Asus still wants to come up with a WP7 device, but only if providers and customers show interest. The Taiwanese company said it already had WP7 models ready for production in 2009, but they were only used internally.

In the past six months, various reports about Windows Phone 7 devices from Asus surfaced and the company was also mentioned as one of the companies that started supporting the OS, but no model has been officially released yet.

“We already had some products with Windows Phone 7 ready. In principle we were ready”, say Benson Lin, corporate vice president and responsible for Asus’ mobile division, told Forbes. However, upon the launch of Windows Phone 7 in October 2010, Asus realized that it “didn’t have the bandwidth” a new smartphone company needs. Asus was simply not sure whether providers would support the platform directly or wait and see. In addition, the company, together with Garmin, was busy with its navigation phones. In October 2010, Asus ended this partnership.

Whether Asus will come with a WP7 device, according to Lin, depends on the Mobile World Congress. In the coming days, he will speak with several carriers to gauge their interest in a Windows Phone 7 device from Asus. “The attitude of the carriers plays a key role in our Windows Phone 7 strategy.” Lin says that he does not care about Nokia’s announcement to make WP7 the primary platform for its smartphones. “We’re more concerned with the users themselves, whether they want Windows Phone 7, not with what Nokia does.”