HTC Says Consumers Want their Phones Smaller than 5 Inches

HTC had a casual conversation with gottabemobile.com in CES 2013. Folks at gottabemobile.com asked HTC what is their opinion regarding the growing phablet (portmanteau between phone and tablet) market.

HTC said they are evaluating the phablet market. But according to them, consumers in general do not want phones with displays exceeding 5 inches. But they are still watching the space.

This doesn't sound surprising as none of HTC phones such as the widely popular HTC One X and HTC Droid DNA (known as J Butterfly in Japan) have display beyond 5 inches. The display of HTC One X is 4.7 inches while the HTC Droid DNA’s display is exactly 5 inches. Even the well-known rumored HTC M7 is going to stick within this screen size.

HTC think that display size of 4.6 to 4.7 inches is the sweet spot for smartphones. With display size within 5-inch range, the device is often considered a phone based on functionality and user experience. In other word, devices with huge display such as Samsung Galaxy Note feel more like a tablet than a phone.

When asking about hardware, HTC says that “we are approaching a ceiling and that specs would not really matter as much moving forward.” Similar to Apple, HTC says they are going to focus on user experience, instead of even stronger hardware. Jumping from quad-core to faster quad-core processor in a handset won’t make much difference in average consumers’ eyes.

Regarding the rumor of HTC making Windows RT tablet, HTC says they are still monitoring the tablet space. HTC once announced they have quit tablet market, so it could be quite interesting to see HTC re-entering tablet market and brings us some interesting devices.

Look like HTC is concentrating on creating greater user experience through smarter user interface (possibly Sense 5.0) and innovation. We will have to wait until Mobile World Congress in February 2013 in order to see more about HTC’s next flagship devices.

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