HTC’s monthly revenue is expected to jump 30% this month. The reason: the global launch of the HTC U Ultra and HTC U Play. The two smartphones were originally introduced in mid-January and went on sale in Taiwan in early February, but the phones didn’t go on sale in Europe until the first of this month and HTC only started shipping pre-orders of the phones in the US just last week.
An unnamed source claims that the HTC U Ultra and HTC U Play will boost the company revenue for March, pushing past NT$6 billion.
While HTC posted monthly revenues which exceeded NT$6 billion in 2016, that number would be 44% higher than the NT$4.1 billion in revenue HTC posted last March – setting HTC on the right course for the first quarter of this year.
The HTC U Ultra is currently the best smartphone in HTC’s lineup, but many are still expecting HTC to unveil a true 2017 flagship smartphone, dubbed the HTC Ocean, which will be powered by Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 835 processor. Rumors claims that Verizon is already testing the new device, but there is no indication that the phone will be released any time soon.
Besides featuring high-end specs, HTC’s 2017 flagship smartphone will likely feature a new gesture control interface dubbed “Sense Touch” which will allow users to interact with the phone’s UI by swiping and tapping the phone’s metal frame.
With only 6 to 7 “highly-profitable” smartphones planned for 2017, HTC needs to make sure it nails every last detail with each device it releases. HTC’s strategy appears to be mirroring Sony’s, focusing more on profit margins rather than volume. With that strategy, Sony managed to pull in $187 million in profits this past quarter despite a 32.8% drop in unit sales. Sony’s focus was on high-end devices which deliver might higher profit margins.
Source: DigiTimes
If you produce shit, shit happens. Make good products and the product will be noticed. People like to have new things so if new models appear to fast people get frustrated.
I agree. I hope they don’t copy EVERYTHING Sony does. lol 1) Don’t release more than 1 flagship OF THE SAME TYPE each year 2) Be careful about overcharging 3) DON’T NEGLECT your U.S. customers (HTC doesn’t, but Sony does) 4) Continue to push for innovation and premium quality.
I wouldn’t say that Sony is neglecting its US customer so much as Sony has no real strategy for the US. Things would be a lot different if the company sold more than a few hundred thousand phones in the US each year.
Yeah, you could say that too. But there definitely is neglect too……… no fingerprint sensor on the U.S. Xperia phones (well, not a functioning one anyway lol), the often late releases here, not bundling in things that other countries get like earphones, speakers, etc. They don’t sell many phones here b/c they don’t advertise. People don’t buy them here b/c although they know Sony, VERY FEW know they sell smartphones or anything about them. And people MOSTLY tend to buy only what they know, not what they don’t.
Samsung advertises here, Sony doesn’t. Samsung makes its phones available through ALL the major carriers, Sony doesn’t. And when they did, it was only through T-Mobile, which is much bigger now than it was almost 3 years ago when the last Sony phone through them, the Z3 (which I bought via T-Mobile), was released. The Z3v was released through Verizon, and that was it as the next one (Z4 or Z4v) was cancelled beforehand due to a conflict with the Z5, which was due in part to poor scheduling and once again the stupid approach of releasing 2 flagships of the EXACT same kind/model series within the same year. At least they had some released via T-Mobile beforehand, but that was then. In Sweden, a girl I know told me Sony is JUST as big there as Samsung is, maybe bigger? Guess what they do there?! ADVERTISE, AND I’M SURE SELL THROUGH CARRIERS TOO! The only ads we see here are those typically forgettable ones on YouTube. They need get A LOT more aggressive, hire a U.S.-based ad agency that knows how to appeal to the U.S., and get the word out!
Also, the reason why I left Sony and went BACK to HTC again (I have the 10 right now and LOVE IT!) is Sony went from being the KING of 3 features in particular (aside from looks and great UI) to just being king for 1……….the 2 features they lost their way on are battery life and audio. The Z3 I had had INCREDIBLE battery life. They were the kings of 2-day battery life. The Xperia X Performance (XP) I had last summer through January? It couldn’t make it through a day if its life depended on it, even with Stamina Mode on. My 10 isn’t much better, but I think it’s still better. And for audio it’s just as bad if not worse. The Z3 had incredible audio quality, but now both LG and HTC have far surpassed Sony there too. The only feature Sony still has a strong hold on is camera. And even my 10 is getting very close, but Sony is still better here at least. But who knows how the 11/Ocean will be there? They started using Sony camera sensors with the 6, so it’s likely they may catch up this or next year?
Misc………….another form of neglect by Sony pertained to T-Mobile and its requirement to certify VoLTE & Wi-Fi Calling if you wanted those features available to use on their network. Sony decided to be cheap here too, so my XP didn’t have the option to use VoLTE. HTC however DID certify both of these with T-Mo on both their locked AND unlocked phones (mine is unlocked), and now I get to have them back (I only use VoLTE actually), which I AM happy about! http://www.tmonews.com/2016/04/unlocked-htc-10-is-fully-compatible-with-t-mobile-including-volte-and-wi-fi-calling/
*With the 10, not the 6.
I agree, but HTC has been keeping its flagship lineup pretty simple for the past few years – especially in the US. Back in the day you had unique flagship devices form HTC for the four major service providers, but that hasn’t happened since the HTC One was introduced in 2013.
Yeah but you can still buy HTC phones through HTC and T-Mobile. Well, T-Mobile DID sell the 10 for a few months last year when it first came out, but due to poor sales, it was dropped, but it’s still available on both Verizon’s & Sprint’s site though.
What’s wrong with that? I like simple. lol HTC realized (and Sony did too I think?) that they didn’t need to have SO many phones out there. Makes things confusing for the customer really.
I had the One M8 through T-Mobile and I thought it was unique and amazing. Even the M9. But their cameras were just ok to good at best, never great. With the 10 they made the camera a lot better than before at least. The 2 issues I had with the 10 were that they made the front look too much like a Samsung phone, and also they shouldn’t of moved the bottom speaker off the front to the bottom. I’m hoping with the 11/Ocean they bring it back and move the fingerprint sensor elsewhere, or keep it on the front somehow but have it be virtual? I’m glad at least on the 10 they made it a PAD and not a button that pushes in. I hate buttons. lol
The HTC phones are pretty similar to Sony’s Xperia line in that they both have great UIs, easy to use Settings menus (unlike Samsung), similar unique features like double-tap and auto answering calls (aka Smart Call Handling on Xperia), etc.
The 11/Ocean actually from what I’ve been reading should be pretty unique if the rumors are true. Like the first buttonless phone (or it may just have a Power button only?). I’ve spoken to the Special Projects Team at HTC and let them know about the speakers (they said they’ve heard this MANY times already and are well aware of it lol) and the pad/sensor, etc. So we’ll see. The 10 though…….the audio on it was able to MATCH my $299 Oppo HA-2 premium portable amp/DAC, where my XP couldn’t. I’m big on Hi-Fi these days, so that was a huge plus for HTC, and a big reason why I sold off not only my XP but my HA-2 as well! This article clears up some misinformation about the 10 and proves that HTC really cares about this stuff where most other makers (aside from LG) don’t: (Note: Sony’s recent phones including the XP DO NOT have dedicated DACs and/or headphone amps from what I’ve read, though I think the Z3 did. Dedicated is ALWAYS gonna be better than integrated.)
http://www.androidcentral.com/htc-10-audio-testing-boomsound-evolved
*I did not actually have the M9, though my sister did. I was just referring to it as being unique compared to what was out there. I loved the champagne gold one they released, which was inspired by the look of various luxury watches. I got the 10 in Glacier Silver last summer but returned it cuz I thought the XP was better, but this time when I went back to HTC I got the unlocked Topaz Gold one, which is my favorite by far!
Great!!