CES: Asus will not release 7in Tegra 3 tablet in the UK

Firm will concentrate on bringing Padfone hybrid to the UK market

LAS VEGAS: Asus has confirmed that it does not plan to ship the 7in tablet with quad-core Nvidia processor in the UK.

The Asus 7in tablet was unveiled on Monday with a price tag of just $249 (£160) and the lack of a UK release is likely to leave many consumers disappointed.

"In the UK we don't see a demand for the 7in tablet at the moment and we will be focusing on releasing a Padfone, which is a smartphone and tablet hybrid. This will be formally announced at Mobile World Congress next month," John Swatton, marketing manager for Asus in the UK told V3.

"Asus hasn't sold a branded smartphone in the UK, so there is no user base for 3G devices at present."

Asus did give V3 a sneak peek at the the Padfone, which comes in two parts. Users will get a smartphone running Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich, which they can slot into the back of a 10in tablet that displays content directly from the handset.

The Padfone was debuted at Computex and, although full specifications have yet to be announced, Asus did confirm that two devices will share the SIM card, processor and operating system.

"The 10in tablet is not intended to be a standalone tablet, but it will have some features that can be used independently of the phone. Full specifications together with pricing and release will be announced at Mobile World Congress," Swatton added.

He also confirmed that the firm's highly anticipated Asus Transformer Prime hybrid device will start shipping in the UK on 12 January and that the Ice Cream Sandwich update will be available almost immediately.