HTC has had a rather tough time in the past few years. After becoming the top dog in Android, fairly early on, it’s had a bit of a struggle in the past three years. In 2011, they had over 80 flagship devices released, and in 2012, they cut that down to a handful, and in 2013 down even more to just the HTC One M7, One Mini and One Max. Since 2013, the company has started releasing more devices again, including some in the Desire line as well as the One A9 and One X9. However, the company still isn’t doing spectacular. Many had wondered how long HTC would still be in existence, and well the company’s chairwoman, Cher Wang has answered that. Stating that they will never disappear from the market, according to a new report out of Taiwan. And that there are plenty of great flagship devices coming in 2016.
The company is looking to launch more flagship devices in 2016, to appeal to more niche markets. We’ll have to wait and see what those “niche” markets really are. As having so many flagships is what got them into this mess in the first place, it’ll be interesting to see how this does for them. But clearly something needs to change at HTC, as they are releasing devices that are pretty decent, however they are still struggling to get out of the red. HTC is also bringing out the Vive in 2016 (pre-orders slated for February with production units shipping in April 2016) as well as their fitness band which has been delayed a few times, but now slated to be available in Q1.
HTC will be at CES, so it’ll be interesting to see what they announce or have on hand to show off to the media attending the trade show in Las Vegas next week. HTC was the manufacturer that created the first Android smartphone in the HTC G1 or the Dream (depending on where you are in the world), they also created the first Nexus, in the Nexus One, it would be sad to see them disappear from the Android market, or the smartphone market in general.