HTC’s CEO Peter Chou has confirmed that HTC will be not be releasing low-end smartphones and instead will continue to focus on mid/high-end devices.
In an interview with the Wall Street Journal in Taipei, Mr Chou was quoted as saying that his company has no future plans to produce “cheap, cheap phones” because it would ‘destroy’ HTC’s brand image.
For those who were fans of devices like the HTC Smart, it looks like you’ll have to look elsewhere from now on, with the newly launched HTC Desire C most likely being as ‘entry-level’ as it’s going to get. That phone still comes with some impressive specs, running the latest build of Android; Ice Cream Sandwich and including a 5-megapixel camera.
The Taiwanese company saw huge growth with its adoption of Android and despite being smaller than giant rival Samsung, the company competes in many of the same markets, with both Android and Windows Phone.
The smartphone market is extremely competitive and in 2011 HTC faced stiff competition from the hugely successful Samsung Galaxy S2. This competition looks likely to heat up in 2012 with particular pressure from the Samsung Galaxy S3 and forthcoming Apple iPhone 5, so it seems a sensible move for HTC to streamline its project focus.
Chou’s comment reiterates those made at the end of 2011, when HTC stated it would be moving its focus solely into producing ‘hero’ devices. UK chief Phil Robinson said: “In Q4 we delivered a lot more products than in the past. Now we want to create more of a ‘hero’ approach. We make great phones, but it is hard to do that when the portfolio is spread too much.“
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