Htc is irrelevant to me. They used to be the leader in both android and windows phones but they are irrelevant in both os. Their crap cameras is what keeps me away.
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HTC’s horrible start to 2015
- Thread starter maflynn
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Next to Nokia I have owned more HTC phones than anything else. I started with the G1, then had the Tattoo, Hero, Desire HD and Incredible S. Apart from a couple of hardware failures I found them to be well designed and durable phones. It's sad they have lost out to the likes of Samsung and LG because they were well ahead only a few years ago with their Android handsets.
With so many Android manufacturers competing for a share of the Android market, I don't think any of them are safe in the long run and HTC have rested on their laurels to some degree. Unless they create their own OS and make their own hardware to suit like Apple, they will always simply be competing against Samsung. I hope they are bought and some life is pumped back into them.
With so many Android manufacturers competing for a share of the Android market, I don't think any of them are safe in the long run and HTC have rested on their laurels to some degree. Unless they create their own OS and make their own hardware to suit like Apple, they will always simply be competing against Samsung. I hope they are bought and some life is pumped back into them.
In both cases they were a leader because there were no heavy hitters in those sectors. They really only got into deep weeds when Samsung [re]entered the android market. As for windows, that platform languished and really didn't provide HTC with any growth.
So the HTC won't be making phones and tablets anymore, Is that right?????
I don't really know but what does this mean for HTC? Will they still be doing the same thing?
I don't really know but what does this mean for HTC? Will they still be doing the same thing?
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The platform languishing as you claim is no excuse for htc. Nokia and now Microsoft phones are being brought as well as other oems such as blu and the smaller regional oems. The problem is htc is irrelevant on both platforms and there are now products people want and htc keeps releasing inferior than their competitor products.
No ... They haven't announced an exit to the market. They will continue to make phones. They haven't made a tablet however in ages.
By 2018-2020, that statement could very well be true. They could be part of the walking dead like Motorola, Nokia, and BlackBerry AFTER 2011.
I was checking out their new affordable Desire series and HTC just doesn't get it yet. Only 2000 mAh for a 720p / "5 display on the 626s? Snapdragon 200? Recycling the M7 design over and over? You are better off with the ASUS Zenfone 2! Way better specs for the price. Value is the area HTC is quite awful in just like Sony. Good designs with overpriced value. Several other Asian OEM's and Nokia Lumias offer way better value than HTC's affordable phones.
HTC One M7 was supposed to be the company's savior. It wasn't as 2013 wasn't quite profitable for them after all the accolades their flagship received. M8 did turn some of their fortunes around last year but not enough to crack Top 10 globally. But the M9 brought HTC down to the lowest levels in over decade. And HTC never releases their underrated Butterfly series toward other markets.
I don't see this turning around for HTC now that Samsung has greatly improved on an area many folks blasted them for while praising HTC for it. DESIGN & BUILD QUALITY. I see the gold S6 edge almost everywhere and it always turns my head. Design is an easy area any OEM can improve on. If HTC couldn't beat Samsung and many others back in 2013-2014, how in the world can they beat them in the future when those companies get stronger? The M10 could have a godly design and Sense 8 could be amazing by next year and it still wouldn't be enough just like in 2013.
HTC is a one-trick pony.
Samsung
Apple
Sony
LG
Nokia
Huawei
Lenovo / Motorola
ASUS
Xiaomi
Oppo / OnePlus
Meizu
^^ Any of these companies are better than HTC in alot of areas including price, battery stamina, or camera. Throw in the improving ZTE and Gionee / BLU. And half those listed who may NOT be succeeding in the mobile market can succeed in other industries. As much as fanboys hate them, losing companies like Samsung, Apple, Microsoft, and Sony would feel like great losses than if HTC went belly up.
Only reason HTC stands out more in North America more is because of the few competition it has. Nokia, Sony, and several Chinese OEM's are usually non-existent in those markets. And if they did, it would be geared toward the prepaid market competing against the likes of ZTE which is a minority. Sony is one of the most arrogant pr*cks in any industry thinking their brand is still strong who forces us to use their proprietary standards which will be defunct after a decade or less. I can love Sony at times but I also can't stand their arrogance sometimes. They are as over-the-hill as Kobe Bryant depending on their great legacy / status as their current sales pitch. Samsung and Apple will always battle in the premium side of the subsidized market. Even if HTC does get better, there is nearly a dozen others they have to beat.
I didn't say its an excuse but another factor in their seemingly inevitable death spiral. They took a chance on the windows platform taking off and it didn't.
As for the android platform, they shot themselves in the foot with odd/questionable marketing and rolling out some flagship models that failed to make consumers excited (or even interested).
When both the s6 and edge were revealed in comparison to the new M9, I knew HTC was boned.
And then when camera reviews of the M9 came out and were still poor, I knew that was the nail in the coffin for them this year.
It'll be interesting to see what the new CEO will do to turn things around. It'll be a challenge but hopefully this means they bring their A game for their next go around.
But then again, how many more times can we say, "hopefully next year, HTC?"
And then when camera reviews of the M9 came out and were still poor, I knew that was the nail in the coffin for them this year.
It'll be interesting to see what the new CEO will do to turn things around. It'll be a challenge but hopefully this means they bring their A game for their next go around.
But then again, how many more times can we say, "hopefully next year, HTC?"
Again windows has nothing to do with htc poor performance. If anything it gives them potentially some sales and another alternative outside of android. They are just not in high demand.
They should have never taken such extreme polar opposite approaches to their cameras, which are really big selling points for many people. First they say that 4MP with f/2.0 apertures, 2.0um pixel size, and OIS is more than enough to take great photos (which wasn't, as many would agree), then they remove OIS and add a secondary camera which nobody asked for (and keep the 4MP), then they take the complete opposite approach and put a camera with 20MP, f/2.2 aperture (when their competitors have f/1.9 and f/1.8), tiny pixels, and still no OIS.
They don't seem to understand that when it comes to smartphone cameras, it's all about balance. 12-16MP, f/2.0 to f/1.8, and OIS and you've got a winner.
They also seem to be getting worse every year in display quality and battery life (according to AnandTech). For the HTC M10, they need a smartphone with a 1440p display (in order to compete with other Android flagships), a big battery (and better battery life), a balanced camera, and remove those black bars that everyone complains about. If they do ALL those things, they can start competing again.
I really hope they pull it off, as I want there to be other companies besides Samsung that make profit so they can reinvest in their companies and be able to bring more innovation to the market.
They don't seem to understand that when it comes to smartphone cameras, it's all about balance. 12-16MP, f/2.0 to f/1.8, and OIS and you've got a winner.
They also seem to be getting worse every year in display quality and battery life (according to AnandTech). For the HTC M10, they need a smartphone with a 1440p display (in order to compete with other Android flagships), a big battery (and better battery life), a balanced camera, and remove those black bars that everyone complains about. If they do ALL those things, they can start competing again.
I really hope they pull it off, as I want there to be other companies besides Samsung that make profit so they can reinvest in their companies and be able to bring more innovation to the market.
I see they have cancelled their sports band / fitness thing now too. I think we are going to see a lot of cut backs from HTC this year to try and aid them weather the storm.
That crap camera is precisely why I don't choose or recommend them over lumia windows phones. When your excuse is the pictures are perfectly adequate for fb or Instagram or it is okay camera as long as you don't crop or zoom in....there is an issue there.
HTC is in rough shape. They just make silly decisions in a business with a unforgiving margin of error.
Personally I think their software is hideous and I don't like their design language on their phones. It's not just about using aluminium.
Personally I think their software is hideous and I don't like their design language on their phones. It's not just about using aluminium.
They were one of the top contract manufacturers for Motorola smartphones. Granted, that was a lifetime ago.
My favorite htc phones were
Htc sensation
Htc evo even though it was underpowered and ran like crap on android 1.5
Htc evo
Htc aria
Htc amaze
Htc droid incredible
Htc one x
Seriously these were their best devices. How they fell out of favor and especially how they got so crap at cameras I will never know
Htc sensation
Htc evo even though it was underpowered and ran like crap on android 1.5
Htc evo
Htc aria
Htc amaze
Htc droid incredible
Htc one x
Seriously these were their best devices. How they fell out of favor and especially how they got so crap at cameras I will never know
The new M9 ha a decent camera now it's been updated via firmware fixing some of the over exposure on it originally.
The reality is people didn't buy the M9 because it has a crap camera (it doesn't). They didn't buy it because it was released at a bad time, came off some bad reports of overheating that actually didn't affect the end product unlike the Z4/Z3+ but the damage was done. Additionally released amongst the heavyweight Samsung S6 / S6 Edge basically killed much of the interest.
In reality it has a decent camera, solid build, blazingly fast performance, decent screen and great sound. It's just against an increasingly challenging competition it just wasn't enough, added to a very poor marketing campaign.
So it launched with mediocre performance and the camera was eventually updated to become usable.
Because I've read several android enthusiast blogs who dinged the phone exactly for the cameras poor performance.
I also sell phones regularly as part of my job and while I mainly deal with windows phones and now Apple, I do work with android phones and this was a common complaint I heard.
Not to mention I also am friends with some of the biggest htc fans I know who passed and went to the lg G4 which I hear has the camera to beat in the android arena and could be a competitor to lumia cameras as well.
So you may be right that those issues above are the reasoning behind poor sales. But the camera is also a reason why many people avoided it.
Even in the windows phone arena, people were willing to hold onto outdated two or more years older lumia phones because the m8 windows was not what they wanted.
In the windows phone arena you have lumia to choose from which offers far more than he windows phone.
In the android arena you have lg, Sony, and Samsung all offering better experiences.
Htc stand out feature is boom sound speaker and that really isn't enough.
As far as design the design was good when the first one came out. Now people are tired of it.
Htc best designs ironically come from its non flagship series such as the desire 612 and even the htc butterfly.
As far as the camera goes, it lacks OIS. No. That camera is adequate at best.
You're right it has competition that is strong and offers a much better experience for their devices. But hey at least you get the amazing speakers. Oh wait isn't Motorola doing front facing speakers now.
If they figure a way to match htc, htc is definitely going to lose anything significant or special about its products.
I hope their windows 10 phones will be amazing.
You may have read several blogs. I base my opinion on actual first hand experience.
The only real issue I had was cellular reception which I found to be poorer compared to the S6 Edge, Galaxy Alpha, Nexus 6, iPhone 6+, Note 4, Moto X 2014 and Lumia 930 all of which I had at same time.
I had too many dropped calls, but then I live in a very rural area with many cellular black spots.
The only real issue I had was cellular reception which I found to be poorer compared to the S6 Edge, Galaxy Alpha, Nexus 6, iPhone 6+, Note 4, Moto X 2014 and Lumia 930 all of which I had at same time.
I had too many dropped calls, but then I live in a very rural area with many cellular black spots.
I think you're both right in that it was a number of things that cause the m9 to not do well.
Including rehashing the same design. When it comes doen to it, the camera and poor battery performance made me stay away from it altogether.
Also -- and I've said this before -- sense is a really ugly skin with bad changes. Really hate the toggles from the pull down menu and how the app drawer scrolls up-down.
Including rehashing the same design. When it comes doen to it, the camera and poor battery performance made me stay away from it altogether.
Also -- and I've said this before -- sense is a really ugly skin with bad changes. Really hate the toggles from the pull down menu and how the app drawer scrolls up-down.