Asus debuts Transformer 3 Pro, Transformer 3 with new Kaby Lake chips, from $799, to challenge Surface Pro 4, launch date unknown, also debuts ZenFone 3 line
Asus has bombarded the world with several new Zen-branded products, with three new phones, a new laptop and two new tablet/laptop hybrids.
Context & Ripple Effects
Asus has been chasing Microsoft's detachable-hybrid format for over a year: it first sketched the playbook with the Transformer Book Chi family of Surface-like tablets starting at $300 in January 2015, then moved the line onto Windows 10 with USB Type-C and a claimed 14-hour battery by mid-year. The Transformer 3 and Transformer 3 Pro are the next iteration of that arc, now built on Intel's Kaby Lake platform.
The $799 starting price is the headline move — an explicit shot at the Surface Pro 4 — and it lands alongside a broad Zen-branded push that includes three new phones. The same Kaby Lake silicon already anchors Asus' premium ultraportable push, as seen in the ZenBook 3 Deluxe unveiled at CES with an i7 Kaby Lake CPU starting at $1,699, so Asus is spreading one chip generation across both its budget hybrid and flagship laptop lines.
First-order effects
- Buyers shopping the detachable-hybrid category get a new low anchor: a Kaby Lake Transformer 3 at $799 undercuts the Surface Pro 4's positioning, forcing Microsoft to defend on value rather than novelty.
- The launch date being unknown means Asus is announcing against an unshippable product, locking in headline pricing pressure now while deferring inventory and channel commitments.
Second-order effects
- Intel gains another OEM carrying Kaby Lake into the hybrid segment alongside its premium laptops, strengthening the chip's presence across price tiers during the transition away from the previous Core generation.
- Rival Windows OEMs building Surface-style devices face pressure to match the sub-$800 Kaby Lake entry point or cede the budget end of the hybrid market to Asus.
Third-order effects
- If the cadence holds — Chi in 2015, Windows 10 Transformer Book mid-2015, Transformer 3 on Kaby Lake, and later the ZenBook and ZenBook Flip refreshes on Intel's 8th Gen Core — detachable hybrids become a standing OEM category refreshed every Intel generation rather than a niche experiment, with price competition concentrated at the entry tier Microsoft's Surface brand does not occupy.
The trend: Windows OEMs are using each Intel chip generation to re-enter the detachable-hybrid market below Microsoft's Surface pricing, turning Surface-killers into an annual product ritual.