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Update: ASUS Transformer Prime apparently delayed due to Wi-Fi issues
The ASUS Eee Pad Transformer Prime is a desired, but also a mysterious tablet. The anticipation for this Android OS 3.2, quad-core powered, 10.1-inch tablet is high and various rumours are flying around. First, Best Buy, Staples and Future Shop all put this up for pre-order, then decided to shift the release dates around. The latest launch date is for December 20th – however, an email by NCIX shows the Prime has been “delayed worldwide and will most likely not be available before Christmas”.
According to the doc the official reason for the delay is caused by a Wi-Fi issue not meeting ASUS’ standards.
“Unfortunately, we just received word that the ASUS Transformer Prime has been delayed worldwide and will most likely not be available before Christmas. ASUS feels the WiFi range does not currently meet their standards and has delayed all shipments worldwide. At the moment there is no ETA and no information on available quantities on the first batch.”
No word from the other retailers who have been taking pre-orders, but NCIX is giving out $25 off coupons to those who pre-ordered to select another tablet.
Update: Well, official word from ASUS is that the launch date is still scheduled for this month. According to The Verge, ASUS states that “At this point, we still show to be on schedule to start shipments the week of 12/19. I will provide an update once I have additional information.”
(Thanks deltatux!)
Discussion
54 comments for “Update: ASUS Transformer Prime apparently delayed due to Wi-Fi issues”
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Slightly disappointed…
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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28
Too bad but I’m glad they caught this before shipment.
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Hey, atleast they give a sh*t, unlike the likes of LG.
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I’d rather have a working product than a product that was rushed out the door asap. Good on ASUS. People in the tech world just need to learn some patience.
Remember that the original Asus Transformer was released less than a year ago, and still functions great today (I have no intention on replacing mine).
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I think this is the Wifi issue that Anandtech mentioned in their review.
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Here’s my opinion on product delays: I love them and I support them completely. This is much better than releasing a product with crippling bugs that pisses people off.
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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87
All you other folks are right… I’m just so anxious and have no patience!
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The first gen one is an amazing device. Plus the price should have went down by now!!
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It felt they were too eager to get this product to the market as being the first tegra 3 device. Although I’m glad they caught this I wish more testing was done to give us a better release date estimate
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You know, they did something similar with the original Transformer… Starting to think that this is a marketing scheme to see demand and hype up a product that isn’t ready for release yet due to quantity.
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This story is utter rubbish, just got off the phone with asus and they have no idea about this wifi issue. This is a rumor, the person I called looked it up and said they will be released in Q4
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I agree that they need to have the product working properly before its released… but here’s an idea… get the thing working properly FIRST, and THEN talk about releasing it. I dunno, maybe I’m old fashioned… but seems logical to me.
In the meantime, I am back to square one again in my debate: should I just get the current Transformer or should I hold out and wait for the Prime (which I couldn’t pre-order)?
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I would wait for the Prime if i where you unless you require a tablet ASAP.
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I don’t “require” a tablet ASAP… but I sure as hell “want” one ASAP.
However, I reckon you’re right… if I buy the former one, I’ll be happy until the Prime comes out and then I’ll be kicking myself in the a*s for not waiting.
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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This story is completely false, I assume engineered by an apple fanboy. I unlike most other posters here, simply picked up a phone and called asus. Asus had no clue what I was talking about, no delays, no wifi issues. When the costumer service rep looked it up on her pc, it said Q4 as the release date, as it always had.
Poor, poor reporting that starts a chain reaction of chaos. I’m sure the jelous apple fanboy is reveling in his mischief.
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So you’re saying the Prime will be out for Christmas
? Just a rumor?
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If it’s a lie, than why would NCIX take the time to send me an email like that….
they got the info FROM asus. You got you info from a level 1 customer rep at asus….
I trust NCIX…
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I doubt NCIX releases a statement that specific without having received official correspondence from their Asus rep. I received my notice from them last night. Their Asus rep will have more information on this then the random part-time Customer Service monkey YOU called. Give us a break. There’s a delay due to bugs in the wifi hardware or software, probably known but brushed aside by upper management. Anandtech ran into it, but it’s likely a firestorm of issues from their Taiwanese customers made them realize what a boondoggle they were facing if they went global with the unit.
Two wrongs don’t make a right. They made a mistake trying to rush this in before xmas and competition showed up. But they didn’t compound it by releasing a faulty product. We’re all in the same boat as before: It’ll get here when it gets here.
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I preordered thru NCIX and I received an email from them last night stating there will be a worldwide shipment delay due to wifi issues. It’s very possible this was a precautionary email sent to people who were expecting to have their tablet before Christmas. Who knows – I’ve waited this long, what’s another week or two? EVERYONE JUST CALM DOWN.
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So, is this a hardware or software issue? If it’s the former, the delay would take much longer time to fix the problem, don’t you think?
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Too bad they missed xmas. But props to asus for not shipping a defective product anyway. I wonder if I could buy a defective prime for $50? My apartment is small so I’m only a few metres from my wifi router most of the time.
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I don’t believe wi-fi has anything to do with this. Asus made a deal with Google regarding ICS, and Asus promised Google that they would delay the Prime so that Chromebooks would be released first with ICS.
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didnt i say this like a week ago?!!!
Never doubt the bong sniffer
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So out of all preorders at Best Buy, Future Shop, Staples (those tiny little companies), only NCIX has the inside scoop from Asus and has sent out info addressing it? Something just doesn’t smell right with this?
Not that I would be surprised at all from a delay over wifi issues as Anandtech and Cnet both had isssues.
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You think mindless faceless big box corps are going to send a personalized email and offer a $25 compensation to all their pre-order customers? You think they care about you that much? They will tell you nothing *because* they are not ‘tiny little companies’, and the Prime is just another sku to them. Not to mention they are all Apple shops anyway. If the iPad were delayed they’d have to react. The Prime is so off the public radar they know they don’t need to say a bloody thing.
NCIX specializes in hardware from vendors like Asus. I bet their sales of their mobo’s, cards, laptops, etc dwarf all the Big Box guys put together. Asus knows this, so it’s no surprise their tight relationship leads to more accurate information on what, when and why.
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Hidden due to low comment rating. Click here to see.
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Too many delays. I will wait till CES and get a better tablet now. Nice fail ASUS…
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Everyone, just relax. I am seeing so many people going up in arms, cancelling their orders and behaving like kids on android forums without any confirmation yet from Asus.
Even if the prime comes out in january, we still have a good 2-3 months atleast before any other competing quad core ICS tablet shows up in the market.
CES is not market lauch anyway..
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You will see an Acer and HTC quad core competiting tablet by March at the latest. And they will be a lot nicer than the Prime…
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I had my Amazon pre-order cancelled. So, I pre-ordered from J&R.
I earlier today wrote J&R about this and J&R said they do not expect a shipment until after the New Year.
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No e-mail received from Staples. I called them and they have no clue on the delay of the release date.
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This really makes me want to not buy from them as many times as I’ve set my hopes on a certain release date only to be let down Time and Time again!!! I guess that’s what I get for being a 34 year old toys R us kid!
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One week from the release of millions of units and they are going to – what – open millions of boxes, soldering in afew additional components to improve WiFi. Even a software patch would be hard to incorporate at this late stage.
Something seems slightly fishy to me.
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I’m in the same opinion. This reeks of something fishy. But I’ll still buy it the moment it releases. If I can find one, that is.
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I pre-ordered fro Amazon and hasn’t been canceled, but I saw a new notice today on my pre-order status screen saying my ATP will be delivered after December 25. So it appears that Amazon is aware of the wifi issue, just not saying it explicitly.
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@Suspicious Guy and RXSIU
Well if there really were a Wifi problem what other choice do they have? Throw them all in the garbage can? And we all know Asus is not the first company to have such problems. Apple had the same problem and they are a much bigger company that is focusing on much fewer products.
You can doubt the reliability of those NCIX emails because there has been no official word yet but you cannot doubt them because you think a Wifi problem after they have mass produced is unlikely.
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Well it looks like I will just keep the I Pad 2 I was going to send back! I do not want the old gen dual core android tablet if Asus is fixing to release the quad core! All this delay does is confuse the tablet market and drive more people to buy Apple. What a shame!
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Android Central is saying that it affects not only NCIX pre-orders but Amazon as well. Also, it is likely this issue won’t be resolved until beginning of 2012:
http://www.androidcentral.com/asus-transformer-prime-possibly-delayed-until-2012-wifi-issues
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YOU GEEKS, I guess I can count myself in on that crowd. The crowd looking for any info on the thing we all want and I mean PRIME…
Someone gleaned some info from Taiwan as a girl was asking for help hooking up here WiFi when they were first released there… They were first released there and no other word of WiFi problems.
Some apple agent provocateur picked up on it and now all the geeks tighty whiteys are in a bunch reading all the blogs.
No word from suppliers or Asus makes me believe this is much ado about NOTHING!
And you wieners saying “I’m going to buy a ipad at the same price” BULL SHIT, 16 G and no micro sd slot 9 inch screen dual core is the same price?
Oh and apple has better apps, I looked and they have the same shitty apps as android!
Act like you have a pair!
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If true then I will cancel my pre-order and make my decision based on product comparisons which, I’m sure, others are going to do considering Apple has better gaming and app infrastructure.
Truly a failure in terms of realizing max sales potential since a mid-January / February release now allows IPAD3 to enter into the mix of next gen tablets for the consumer to decide upon purchasing.
No sense in buying a next gen tablet solely on the basis of quad core technology anymore.
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Breaking news:
*Update* ASUS US states there is no delay to speak of: “At this point, we still show to be on schedule to start shipments the week of 12/19.”
http://www.androidcentral.com/asus-transformer-prime-possibly-delayed-until-2012-wifi-issues
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My guess is that due to a limited supply NCIX received word that they were never going to get any stock until after Christmas. So they sent out the mails to those that pre-ordered to ensure there wouldn’t disappoint those intending to give as a gift. They then used the rumoured wifi problem as a plausible excuse as to why they wouldn’t have stock until the new year. I guess we’ll all have to wait and see.
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it’s way better they’re holding back until it’s fixed. They could do like another company and release anyway, then blame users for “holding it wrong”.
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Nice update! frikin NCIX giving everyone a heart attack. just glad that its shipping this month.
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Perhaps this will teach some of you that cancelled your preorder with out getting any official word from Asus to wait and be patient. Rumors are just that and should only be taken with a grain of salt. Besides, I’ve never even heard of this retailer so why should I take what they anyways. Still got my preorder intact and I am amped to get the Transformer Prime for Xmas.
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It actually did!! I was being able to pre-order one from bestbuy.ca yesterday due to someone cancelled their order.
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[...] we are back where we started from… Thanks for the tip, bigfake23! Source: TransformerForums via MobileSyrup Reply With [...]
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I just called Staples, they said ASUS has told them shipping will be mid-late December now.
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A lot of report is come from power user, had a lot of hardware on hand to cross compare, and made a lot of benchmark test.
Looks like ASUS’s strategy is let user decide satisfied or not, and accept maintain.
Since ASUS never made it clear whether:
1> Is only affect Taiwan’s shipping? US/Cananda’s free from this?
2> Only portion of product have this issue?
3> all have this issue, but depend on you can tell this weakness(most end-user can’t tell)
You guy need to benchmark when you receive it.
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Here is what I just received today from Futureshop: (which was supposed to ship the 19th of December)
“Dear customer,
Thank you for pre-ordering the Asus Transformer Prime Tablet and Keyboard Dock (Web ID: 10186527 & 10186526) from Futureshop.ca. We’ve recently been informed by Asus that there is an unexpected delay in receiving the items, and as a result, we are unable to ship the tablet on the date originally planned. We’re sorry to be the bearer of this news; however, we will contact you as soon as we receive the shipment from Asus, and are ready to ship the product to you.
Please accept this $25 credit to use towards a future purchase with us. Please enter your promotional code XXXXXXXXXX at check out.
If you’re on a tight schedule to receive the tablet by December 25, ’tis the season after all, you may choose to your cancel your order, which can be done by signing in here.
If you have any questions, please email our customer service department here.
We appreciate your understanding and look forward to sending you the Asus Prime Transformer Tablet and Keyboard Dock when the device are ready to launch in Canada.
Sincerely,
The Futureshop.ca Team
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[...] experience, and content availability. Throughout the last year and half we have had winners, some delays, and a couple of losers. Overall the iPad still reigns supreme with an estimated 68% of the total [...]
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