HTC’s CEO Feels 2013 would be a Good Year

HTC's CEO, Peter Chou
Source: htcsource.com

HTC’s CEO Peter Chou accepted an interview from The Wall Street Journal, saying that “the worst for HTC has probably passed. 2013 will not be too bad.”

The interview report was published not long ago. Peter Chow said: 

“Our competitors were too strong and very resourceful, pouring in lots of money into marketing. We haven’t done enough on the marketing front.”

2012 was not a good year for HTC. According to bgr.com, the global smartphone market share of HTC in Q3 (3^rd quarter) 2012 is only 4.8 percent. Compared to Samsung’s market share of roughly 31 percent and Apple’s 15 percent, HTC only got a tiny tip, so as BlackBerry with 4.2 percent market share. Even Sony captured some spotlight as it rose over HTC at that time, at 5.1% market share.

As one of the most successful mobile company in 2011, HTC got a slap in the face judging 2012’s market result. Since early 2012, HTC decided to focus on premium devices, introducing the infamous HTC One series and rely very little on marketing. This is a complete opposite to Samsung’s move, which invested heavily in marketing and always readily advertise their products, especially flagship devices like Samsung Galaxy S3. Thus, Samsung gained more market awareness than HTC did.

Hopefully HTC can gain a foothold in 2013 and continue to deliver high quality devices. The newest offering, HTC J Butterfly was sold very well in Japan and even surpassed Apple iPhone 5. This could be a good indicator for HTC to catch up in ever expanding mobile market.

“One thing I’d learned from last year is to act fast and be responsive to market changes. We are being more flexible now. We are constantly fine-tuning our sales plans and position in various markets,” the CEO added in the interview. “Although we don’t have as much money to counter [Samsung and Apple], the most important thing is to have unique products that appeal to consumers.”

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Rumor: HTC M7 is going to be announced in CES 2013?

Could this be the HTC M7? Source: androidadn.com 

A twitter user by the name of @Football4PDA said that HTC might show off the wide-spread rumored HTC M7 during CES (Consumer Electronics Show) 2013. This is what @Football4PDA posted on twitter:

"By some indirect information M7 might be announced on CES event. Moreover it might have screen buttons instead of hardware touch buttons..."

After HTC and Apple settled on the licensing agreement back in November 2012, HTC might have access on some of the Apple technology. This potentially led to more superior smartphone getting made by HTC which could greatly enhance user experience. Other smartphone manufacturers who have no right to touch Apple technology can only watch HTC utilize this opportunities to claw back some mobile market share, which mostly occupied by Apple’s iPhone and Samsung Galaxy handsets currently.

The specs of HTC M7 could surpass the likes of HTC Droid DNA, or HTC Butterfly J known in Japan. It is possibly power by 1.7GHz quad core processor along with 2GB of RAM and 32GB storage. It could also come with 4.7” Full HD display, with a whooping pixel density of 468ppi (pixels per inch). The camera feature isn’t a letdown either, with 2MP front-facing camera and 13MP rear camera which is capable of capturing 1080p video. Furthermore, it is boasted with the newest and fastest wireless connection technology today, LTE and 802.11ac WiFi function.

Some twitter comments suggest that HTC might announce HTC M7 during the CES in January 2013 because Samsung is expected to unveil Samsung Galaxy S4 in MWC (Mobile World Congress) coming February 2013. It seems like HTC wants to grab all attention of the mobile space before Samsung do it. Though, some comments indicate that Samsung is not going to unveil Samsung Galaxy S4 in MWC 2013, instead will show it sometimes in spring.


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HTC to Launch Windows RT Tablet Next Year

Bloomberg that HTC is currently working on multiple Windows tablet to take on Apple in 2013. The Taiwanese manufacturer is said to have been working on two devices: a 12-inch tablet, and a 7-inch version which will be able to make phone calls. Both of the devices is expected to use Windows RT and run using a processor chip supplied by Qualcomm. HTC is also reportedly considered producing a Windows 8 devices, but decided that it would be too costly with the reported quotes of a price around $1000. HTC decide to scrap the Windows 8 plan in favour of an RT-only tablet for the time being.

One news leaked yesterday claimed that Microsoft’s Steve Balmer was in a meeting with HTC CEO Peter to discuss about their future Windows Phone plans although it can’t be confirmed whether Windows RT tablets were part of the conversation but it’s very clear that HTC has been exploring the possibility of entering the tablet market for some time. In September, it was reported that HTC was preparing itself to launch a Windows 8 tablet along with a Qualcomm processor with the company’s chief product officer Kouji Kodera confirmed that HTC was interested in the market segment, and had put together multiple product concepts trying to create the devices that match the consumer needs.

With the introduction of a 7-inch Windows RT tablet certainly give Microsoft a device that could directly compete with the Google Nexus 7, Apple iPad Mini and Amazon’sKindle Fire. It is remain to be seen whether Windows RT will have matured enough to compete directly against iOS and Android devices it that form factor. These HTC devices is expected to be launch in the third quarter of 2013 and this could be the best way to establish HTC among the elite in the tablet industry.

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