Apparently, all smartphone makers are now interested in releasing cheaper devices. And HTC makes no exception. The company just unveiled its Desire 816.
The new phone was presented by HTC at the Mobile World Congress. Actually, at this event numerous companies have decided to present a wide range of interesting products. The Desire 816 will first be available in China, HTC announced.
The company revealed that its latest smartphone can be purchased in China starting with March, while in other countries it will become available in April. The new phone was unveiled by Peter Chou, the chief executive officer of HTC Corp.
The lower-priced smartphone aims to address to a new category of customers, being extremely affordable. It seems that HTC is looking to achieve growth with cheaper products. Actually, the new strategy is not shocking at all.
Unfortunately for HTC, the company has struggled to obtain profits in the past few months, actually registering operating loss due to shrinking of sales. This reality can be best explained by the amazing competition that currently exists on the smartphone market. Numerous smartphone models exist in sale today.
Naturally, the most popular high-end devices remain the products released by Samsung and Apple and it seems to be almost impossible for HTC to make its presence felt. Focusing its attention on a cheaper market might be a good strategy.
However, it is important to keep in mind that that not only HTC seems to be interested in releasing cheaper smartphones. Nokia, for instance, already announced the launch of such a device, so the competition might become greater on these markets, too.
“With the HTC One leading the premium segment, it’s clear that there’s a huge opportunity in the middle of the market,” Peter Chou claimed. “Many people want to have an affordable smartphone that does not compromise,” he added.
The new phone comes with a 5.5-inch screen, but also a 1.6 gigahertz quad-core processor and 13 megapixel rear camera, as well as 5 megapixel front-facing camera. The new phone will come in white, black, red, yellow and purple. HTC did not mention which version of Android the new phone features.
Until now, HTC made no revelation on the starting price for its new smartphone, either. The company announced that a successor for HTC One will be released by the end of March.
