HTC is tanking

[StrangerGuy]

http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_sales_continue_to_plummet_in_february-news-5654.php

Never been a fan of them and even used their phones, but when your product line is overloaded with tons of phones that look and sound the same, people tend to get confused and frustrated and then finally stop caring.

Doesn't help when the flagship (One) pretends it's an iPhone 5 by not offering expandable memory and removable battery but yet priced in the same ballpark. Geez, I wonder what consumers would choose.

 

[vi edit]

Their problem has nothing to do with SD cards or replaceable batteries. I'd wager that less than 5% of GS3 owners have a 2nd battery and a number slightly higher than that use expandable storage. But neither of which were really primary selling points in the device.

Samsung learned in a hurry that you have to create a brand, provide the same device across carriers, and then market the crap out of that device. Otherwise you end up like HTC and just have a scattershot product portfolio and no single device across carriers that people can easily compare.

Samsung got on it's game with the GS3 and rallied their marketing around that one singular device (and later the noteII) which you can get on every major carrier.

Of course I approach this from a US Centric mentality and recognize we are a small overall fraction of global sales, but I have to assume that the marketing and product offerings aren't that different in other major markets.

 

[superccs]

HTC got trolled hard by Apple lawsuits a few years ago and got their phones locked at the ports and that hit them pretty hard.

They are recovering and finding their brand image which I think is still in evolution. No they are no making phones that think they are iPhone5's lol.

 

[shortylickens]

Shame, they were on top briefly.

They made some of the very best windows phones and were the first company to jump on Android.

I think the beginning of the end was their Thunderbolt.
Overpriced, riddled with bugs, and a huge marketing campaign that fell flat on its face when people realized it WASNT the next big thing and mostly hype.

 

[shortylickens]

Maybe their new flagship device can kill the Note 2

http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=4041&gi=1

Metal body, 1080p screen, now all we need is a price.

 

[ponyo]

Well it certainly didn't help their phones were missing removable batteries and microSD slot. I know several people who bought GS3 and Note II because of the SD slot and other features. And some of them are technology clueless as you can get. I recommended both phones but never even mentioned HTC One X or other HTC phones. HTC abandoned the mod community when they were flying high and sales were strong. Mod community was what made them in the beginning as the tech geeks did all the word of mouth advertising for them. But they made the business decision to lock and encrypt the bootloader to try to reduce the warranty repairs and support. People jumped ship to Samsung and they lost the one group who did any sort of advertising for them. HTC was too cheap to advertise themselves. Now they're trying to advertise but good luck with that. Samsung spends crazy amounts on ads. Now you have LG and Sony in the game too.

 

[Dari]

Their problem has nothing to do with SD cards or replaceable batteries. I'd wager that less than 5% of GS3 owners have a 2nd battery and a number slightly higher than that use expandable storage. But neither of which were really primary selling points in the device.

Samsung learned in a hurry that you have to create a brand, provide the same device across carriers, and then market the crap out of that device. Otherwise you end up like HTC and just have a scattershot product portfolio and no single device across carriers that people can easily compare.

Samsung got on it's game with the GS3 and rallied their marketing around that one singular device (and later the noteII) which you can get on every major carrier.

Of course I approach this from a US Centric mentality and recognize we are a small overall fraction of global sales, but I have to assume that the marketing and product offerings aren't that different in other major markets.

This is true. Marketing and branding are pivotal. HTC is a joke in that regard. I have never seen an HTC commercial in my lifetime.

 

[Genx87]

For the life of me I still cant remember which one of these phones that I owned is on Verizon. The Incredible or EVO.

 

[zerogear]

Maybe their new flagship device can kill the Note 2

http://www.phonescoop.com/phones/phone.php?p=4041&gi=1

Metal body, 1080p screen, now all we need is a price.

They say it's more than the iPhone (so maybe 800+)

 

[stag3]

i've had no issues with the droid DNA, and i actually enjoyed the thunderbolt except for the battery issues heh

 

[chitwood]

but they have Beats headphones!!

 

[wirednuts]

i love htc phones.. i hope they stay in the game.

 

[Red Storm]

Samsung spent a record amount on marketing this past year. That combined with what vi said, they created a uniform, carrier agnostic brand/device (except for the internal differences between US and international). Notice HTC and Motorola do not do this. I see the brand new HTC phone and then months later maybe it shows up on the largest carrier in the US, but it's under a completely different name with different design and specs.

 

[swanysto]

This is true. Marketing and branding are pivotal. HTC is a joke in that regard. I have never seen an HTC commercial in my lifetime.

Which is really weird, cause the EVO commercials played non-stop for months after its release. The one that compared it to the iPhone. However, after the EVO did pretty well, their marketing was never really the same.

 

[Ravynmagi]

Yeah, I also think HTC's branding is terrible and showing no signs of improving.

One X seemed like a good attempt. The name seemed kinda okay. Though they still screwed up by having that brand only on one carrier at launch and renamed and redesigned it to something else for Sprint I believe.

But unfortunately as many of us wondered, how do you follow up on the One X name? One X II obviously sounds stupid. Apparently you followup buy just removing the X. The One. So what follows the One, the O? Yeah, they still need to redo their branding.

 

[dagamer34]

http://www.gsmarena.com/htc_sales_continue_to_plummet_in_february-news-5654.php

Never been a fan of them and even used their phones, but when your product line is overloaded with tons of phones that look and sound the same, people tend to get confused and frustrated and then finally stop caring.

Doesn't help when the flagship (One) pretends it's an iPhone 5 by not offering expandable memory and removable battery but yet priced in the same ballpark. Geez, I wonder what consumers would choose.

The only company that actually does that with their high end phones is Samsung. But, please don't tell me that's the reason why people ask the question "Should I get an iPhone or a Galaxy?" because we know battery and SD card isn't the reason they are asking that.

 

[poofyhairguy]

How is it to mod a HTC phone? The One is my backup plan if Samsung ruins the American SGS4, but I have gotten SO spoiled by how easy it is to ROM Samsung. Are there huge differences getting clockwork on, and after you have clockwork on?

 

[StrangerGuy]

Yeah, I also think HTC's branding is terrible and showing no signs of improving.

One X seemed like a good attempt. The name seemed kinda okay. Though they still screwed up by having that brand only on one carrier at launch and renamed and redesigned it to something else for Sprint I believe.

But unfortunately as many of us wondered, how do you follow up on the One X name? One X II obviously sounds stupid. Apparently you followup buy just removing the X. The One. So what follows the One, the O? Yeah, they still need to redo their branding.

"Hey, how do we call a better phone than the One X? One!" That's just so LOL I don't know where to start.

The sad part is I still can't get a One in Singapore even if I wanted and this is less than 1 week before the SGS4 unveil on 14 March. Nobody would care for the One by this point when Samsung is very likely to undercut the iP5 based on previous history.

How is it to mod a HTC phone? The One is my backup plan if Samsung ruins the American SGS4, but I have gotten SO spoiled by how easy it is to ROM Samsung. Are there huge differences getting clockwork on, and after you have clockwork on?

Unmoddability because of locked bootloaders are like the #1 complaint about HTC all over the Internets.

 

[s44]

C'mon folks, *of course* sales are going to drop in the month between announcing a new model and releasing it. That said, Samsung has timed the S4 announcement really well.

How is it to mod a HTC phone? The One is my backup plan if Samsung ruins the American SGS4, but I have gotten SO spoiled by how easy it is to ROM Samsung. Are there huge differences getting clockwork on, and after you have clockwork on?

Giant pain in the butt. First there's the bootloader, but after that you also have to get access to /system, which is locked by default by the bizarre S-ON business (and this can take a long time to crack). Oh yeah, and it literally takes HTC months to release kernel source after phones release or updates go out.

 

[Chocu1a]

Like said earlier, Carrier branding is hurting HTC. AT&T got the flagship One X, then Sprint got a different looking(not as nice imho) EVO 4G, then T-Mobile got an even more watered down One S. Then VErizon completely missed out all together on that, but got a version of the Butterfly, which no one really cares about.
One phone, across all carriers, build the brand, & let the phone do the talking.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

iono. HTC marketing is pretty strong in Taiwan. I see a LOT of posters. There's fewer now but back in the Sensation/Incredible S era, they were plastered over every building. HTC Flyer too.

 

[Suspicious-Teach8788]

How is it to mod a HTC phone? The One is my backup plan if Samsung ruins the American SGS4, but I have gotten SO spoiled by how easy it is to ROM Samsung. Are there huge differences getting clockwork on, and after you have clockwork on?

It's easier to install a ROM on Samsung, but you got spoiled in ROMs because of Qualcomm. If Samsung uses Exynos, you're fvcked. Look at i9100 and i9300 dev. It's been horrible.

 

[vshah]

i just hope htc makes the next nexus.

 

[ChronoReverse]

I wouldn't mind that myself. The HTC One as a nexus would be sweet

 

[ponyo]

No way. I hope Sony makes the next Nexus. By then Motorola should be ready to make the following one after Sony. I don't see HTC making another Nexus device.