If this leak is real, then we may see the HTC One on Verizon after all, even though Verizon seems to be the last carrier that wants to give up on its “own phone brands”, such as the Droid series. The Droid DNA from HTC was released only 6 months ago, and that was Verizon’s flagship from HTC. It’s hard to believe that Verizon would reject the prospect to sell such a popular phone as the HTC One.
The thing about US carriers is that they love to get manufacturers to sell phones with brands and designs that they can control. In particular, it has been a terrible strategy for OEM’s, because they don’t get to create a strong brand for themselves, especially if they rename and redesign the same phone four times in the US alone. If OEM devices don’t sell well, then it stands to reason that neither will the carrier branded devices.
So, when phones come along that have garnered global popularity, like the Galaxy S flagships, the carriers seem more than happy to accept them as they are. Why? Because they barely have to do any marketing to sell them, or if they do advertise, the results are much more successful than with a brand that only exists for Verizon, or for AT&T, and so on.
HTC didn’t have this type of popular global brand awareness until now. It seems that they may have it now thanks to the HTC One, which seems to have changed Verizon’s mind about allowing HTC’s own brands on its network. This leak points at least to the existence of HTC One model on the Verizon network:
Other rumors say that this may be the same T6 we’ve heard about before, but with a size larger than the regular HTC One, and launching sometime soon, possibly before July. If it is indeed larger than 4.7″, then at least I hope it won’t be much larger (maybe only 5″), and will keep the same design and name. Otherwise, HTC will start from square one in terms of branding on Verizon, and nothing will change. HTC needs to stand up more to Verizon in negotiations, and not allow them to dilute their brands. Verizon should instead just sell the HTC One as it is, just like with the Galaxy S3 or Galaxy S4.
Via Slashgear