In a statement, HTC gives a clear reason for the dramatic alteration. It states, “slower demand for high-end Android devices and weaker than forecast sales in China,” are to blame for its woes. It adds that “increased competition has raised operating costs for product promotion,” as being another consideration.
These official comments echo HTC CEO Cher Wang’s comments made at the shareholders meeting, where she promised marketing strategies would be improved, along with a reduction in production costs, and a move to push products that fall outside of the smartphone segment for which it’s best known.
HTC reiterates all this in its official statement, but also makes a point to say it’s not planning to abandon smartphones, and says it intends to strengthen its core smartphone business to increase competitiveness.
New phones, tablets, and other cool tech
While the HTC One M9 is considered a beautiful device, it hasn’t caught attention like the Samsung Galaxy S6 has, and in China, Apple and Xiaomi are grabbing both customers and headlines in a way HTC simply isn’t. Do we have any clues as to its plan to reverse fortunes?
There have been hints of a new flagship phone launching later in the year, which may suggest it’ll arrive during the IFA tech show in September, plus we’re hearing more rumors about a new series of tablets being released by HTC. However, it has said spin-off devices such as the One Mini range aren’t worth producing anymore, so it’s unlikely we’ll see an M9 version of the One Mini this year.
However, while smartphones will remain important, HTC also says it’s going to “aggressively develop new business opportunities beyond smartphones,” so we could see more exciting hardware like the Vive VR headset in the near future. Only time will tell if these measures will make the difference HTC desires.
