The comments came after an opinion piece by Digital Trends detailing HTC’s stumbles and ultimate collapse, and a similar article by Reuters Breakingviews columnist Robyn Mak predicting that HTC and Sony will face extinction next year, as mobile sales slow down.
In Mak’s view, Apple and Samsung will control the bulk of upgrade sales, while Xiaomi and Huawei manage new sales in the Middle East and Africa. This leaves little room for smaller manufacturers like HTC, who cannot compete with Huawei’s scale or Apple’s premium quality.
Huawei and Xiaomi showed the most growth this year, as the two Chinese mobile manufacturers entered into new regions. Apple claimed the vast majority of mobile profit, at 94 percent, with Samsung the only other profitable mobile company in the business.
Wang does not share this pessimistic view, claiming HTC has low-end smartphones prepared for next year alongside a new flagship. It has already launched the One X9, a midrange phone, to kickstart into 2016. The company also has a fitness partnership with Under Armour and VR partnership with Valve, which might keep it on the straight and narrow.
HTC has been on a downward spiral since 2012, losing market share every year since it adopted the One series. It now controls a measly 1 percent of the smartphone market, according to Mak, pushing it below the top 10 largest mobile manufacturers.
The Taiwanese-based company still has $1.3 billion in cash reserves, but that won’t last much longer if things don’t improve.
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