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.
