Apple and Samsung Could Be Dethroned by Asus' Radical New Device

When it comes to the U.S. smartphone market, it's mostly a two-horse race. Cumulatively,Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL  ) and Samsung (NASDAQOTH: SSNLF  ) sell two out of every three smartphones, with smaller manufacturers such as HTC and Motorola fighting for what's left.

But that could change next year, when Asus brings its PadFone to the United States. The device, powered by Google's (NASDAQ: GOOG  ) Android, is particularly revolutionary and has the potential to disrupt the mobile market.

Asus' PadFone combines a tablet with a smartphone
The term "phablet" has arisen to define phones such as Samsung's Galaxy Note III -- too small to be a tablet, yet too large to be a smartphone: a hybrid of form factors. But Asus' PadFone might be the ultimate phablet: Buyers get both a tablet and smartphone, but none of the trade-offs that traditional phablets entail.

Normally, the PadFone Infinity is a standard, 5-inch smartphone running Google's Android. It has a high-end processor and 13-megapixel camera. In other words, it's largely indistinguishable from many other Android smartphones. But it has one huge advantage over its competitors -- a proprietary dock.

The PadFone Infinity comes with a 10.1-inch touchscreen dock. By inserting the phone into the dock, owners can transform their 5-inch smartphone into a 10.1-inch Android tablet. Take it out of the dock, and you're back to a standard smartphone.

Google would benefit from the emergence of another Android player
Buyers of the PadFone Infinity are basically getting two devices in one. Instead of buying Samsung's Galaxy S4 and a Galaxy Note 10.1 or Apple's iPhone 5s and full-size iPad, consumers can simply get Asus' PadFone. Pricing for the PadFone in the U.S. has not yet been announced, but as long as carriers continue to subsidize handsets, it could be more cost effective for consumers to buy a PadFone instead of two separate devices.