HTC always had amazing phones in the market, from the G1 to the HTC One with devices like the Nexus One, the Butterfly, the One X or the Desire HD in the middle. But the one thing that always escaped HTC is market share and consumer awareness, which is exactly what CEO Peter Chou intents to change in the future.
The company aims to secure 10 to 15 percent market share up from its current 4 percent which it has managed to maintain over the last year and it has always fallen under the competition from Samsung and Apple.
“We managed to maintain a 4-percent global smartphone market share last year and we are determined to do our best to expand the percentage to 10 to 15 percent in the future. Give us some time and we will stage a comeback. We will redouble our efforts this year to further enhance our brand recognition and loyalty around the world.” Said Peter Chou at a shareholders meeting.
Chou said that they are perfectly aware of the competitiveness of the market and the company has spent on research and development to fight back.
“Give us some time and we will stage a comeback” Was one of the lines said by Chou, clearly in a defensive position. As Taiwan’s biggest smartphone manufacturer, HTC once had 10 percent of the global market even reaching 30 percent in some areas but now has fallen to the point where many executives are leaving the company and no one knows how long will they be able to survive under these conditions.
Current conditions are not all bad, the HTC One has won the hearts of the media everywhere, being recommended over the Galaxy S4 almost every time, but Samsung fought back with pure marketing power and they are clearly winning. They just need to step up its game with either amazing marketing or a truly innovative product line.
The HTC One marks a turning point for HTC in a different aspect as well, it’s the first time the company has managed to get a device in all four U.S. carriers without it being modified or re-branded (Like it happened with the Butterfly turning into the Droid DNA or the One X into the EVO 4G LTE). According to Chou, this is part of the company’s new marketing strategy. Let’s not forget that Samsung managed to accomplish the same last year with it’s flagship Galaxy S3.
Let’s see how can HTC compete throughout the rest of the year and what can they bring to the table. We already know that good hardware is not enough.