There are a few ways to find out how well a newly launched smart phone is selling. Some of these ways are more difficult than others, but they lend to the same idea. One of the less conventional ways is to check local stores. Other ways are device specific app downloads, or simply waiting for earnings reports to be released. On Tuesday May 6th, HTC will release earnings reports for Q1 2014. Though we can still make some last-minute predictions on the sales numbers we might see in regards to their flagship device-the HTC One (M8).
The HTC One M8 had many different launch dates worldwide. Here in the US, the M8 was released on Verizon Wireless on March 25th. Then the device launched on all carriers on April 11th 2014. As for worldwide, the M8 launched on various dates and has been getting praise for design, and has had it rough with the camera. However the camera on the M8 has been getting better reviews as of late. So the big question is whether or not the device has been received well in the eye of the public.
When it comes to HTC’s flagship devices, the internet has been-for the most part-very kind. Praise for design has become a common thing for HTC to receive over the internet, but that hasn’t been enough to save the company. Since 2011, HTC has been falling from the third ranked smart phone OEM in the US. Since then HTC has been doing nothing but trying to regain their footing and become a profitable OEM. They have gotten so far into the red, that rumors started churning they would sell off the company. HTC’s executive team refuses to give up continues to make changes from within the company.
One of these changes didn’t come around until the release of the 2014 flagship HTC One M8. In an attempt to make software updates go smoother and more efficient, HTC has added some of their apps to the Google Play Store. These apps are mostly specific to the HTC One M8 like the Dot View Case app, and HTC gallery app. The company has released other apps to the Play Store as well, but for proper numbers of M8 sales, we need to only look at those available for the M8. It is true that through the Play Store downloads we can’t get an exact number. However we can get an idea of where the sales stand. For instance, app downloads fall into a few different categories. There are those apps that have breached 5,000 downloads, which puts that app in the 5,000 to 10,000 downloads category. Once the app breaches 10,000 downloads, it moves into the 10,000 to 50,000 downloads category. From there, the categories go, 50,000 to 100,000 and 500,000 to 1 million, then 1 million+ downloads category. From that point on we can take a look at HTC One M8 specific apps, and see what category those apps fall under.
The two apps that are M8 specific are the Gallery app and the Dot View Case app. Both of these apps have fallen under the same category, which is the 500,000+ category. This means that there have at least been 500,000 M8’s sold so far. The question is how does HTC feel about this very general and vague number of M8 sales?
It may be hard to believe that these numbers are great, especially if you compare them to HTC’s rival Samsung. Samsung launched their 2014 flagship device on April 11th and had a bit more success than HTC to say the least. In less than 11 days, Samsung had put 1 million devices out and in the hands of consumers. However since HTC has fallen into the red, they may be playing in a different field than Samsung altogether. In fact, HTC USA President has been quoted to say, “Out of the last five weeks of sales data that have crossed my desk, the two most recent weeks are beating the best weeks of One(M7) activations last year.” The theme of the launch event for the M8 was #OneUp. It appears as though they are more focused on beating their last years numbers, before concerning themselves too much with beating Samsung. This notion could be what will help them get back to profits, or it could further their downfall. It will ultimately be the consumer who decides the fate of HTC, so what do you think? Are these sales numbers promising to show a company back on the rise? Let us know down below or on our G+ page.