HTC who, despite some setbacks due to a recent patent dispute, seems to be doing well with the launch of their new smartphones, the One X, One S, and EVO 4G LTE. The company has been a top manufacturer of smartphones over the years, and today CEO Peter Chou told the Wall Street Journal that they will essentially be stopping the manufacturer of more low-end smartphones and instead focusing on more premium devices.
This news really isn’t too surprising as the company is in a constant battle with other Android device makers such as Samsung who is the number one seller of Android devices. In the world of electronics, particularly smartphones and tablets, you need everything you can get when it comes to differentiating yourself from the competition. Said Chou, “We insist on using better materials to make better products that offer premium experience. Many consumers like that.”
While this is good news in a way, it’s also potentially not-so-great news. Being that they’re getting out of making lower-end smartphones, this means they’ll lose out to other competitors who do well with those kinds of devices, especially in developing countries such as China and India. HTC’s CEO said that they’re not interested in selling phones under 1,000 yuan ($157 US).
Either way, they’ll definitely lose out on some short term cash, but there’s always risks involved when making big changes of this nature and removing an entire product line. HTC realizes that they’ve got to differentiate from the competition and focusing on higher quality, more premium devices, may just be the edge that they need.