HTC beefs up mid-end portfolio to regain market share
HTC has made good on its vow earlier this month to expand its affordable smartphones offerings in a bid to recapture market share.
The Taiwan-based smartphone maker introduced on Wednesday four new models under the HTC Desire series positioned as affordable smartphone, according to Jack Tong, HTC's Greater China region president, in a press release.
Selected handsets will be available through Taiwan's three leading telecom providers in December. The HTC Desire 700 dual sim will be priced at NT$13,900 (US$470) and HTC Desire 501 at NT$9,900 (US$334.50), will be sold through Chunghwa Telecom. The HTC Desire 601 dual sim will be sold through Far EasTone Telecommunications at NT$10,900 (US$368.30). The least-expensive among the four, HTC Desire 300, will be sold at NT$7,900 (US$267) by Taiwan Mobile, according to the state-run Central News Agency.
In October, HTC posted its first loss in Q3 at NT$2.97 billion (US$101 million) for the three months ended September, partly due to amid intensifying competition and rising costs, partly from making its flagship handset HTC One. It's bracing for a challenging holiday season, forecasting sales to be lower in Q4 than the previous three months.
Its plans to revive the company's fortunes include plugging the gaps it had been neglecting particulraly in the mid and low-end tiers, said Chialin Chang, CFO of HTC, during an earnings call earlier this month.
HTC has also been continuing to promote its high-end products too. Earlier this week, it launched a marketing campaign on a display in New York's Times Square to highlight its smartphones, including a eye-catching 24K gold HTC One. According to Tong, a similar promotion will be held in Taipei during Christmas and New Year holidays, according to the United Daily News.