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HTC to lower smartphone output in 2012, focus on “hero” devices


HTC used to be the king of Android: its Nexus One was a piece of Google-endorsed design marvel; its Hero was sleek, and the Legend beautiful. But somewhere along the way it got caught up in trying to please everybody and in turn started pleasing nobody.

Last year HTC released nearly a dozen phones in Canada, from the HTC Sensation to the Status to the EVO 3D to the Amaze. All of them are excellent products marred by a confusing and inconsistent nomenclature (so the Amaze is more sensational than the Sensation, right?) but this will change in 2012.

According to HTC UK head Phil Roberson, “we have to get back to focusing on what made us great – amazing hardware and a great customer experience. We ended 2011 with far more products than we started out with. We tried to do too much.” While the company still made a (comparatively) small $365m profit last quarter, it was a decline of 26% from the previous one. More importantly, market share and consumer mind share have eroded, too.

In Canada, the “hero” devices are the Samsung Galaxy S II series, which HTC CEO Peter Chou called “nuclear weapons.” And though HTC has seen its fair share of success, 2012 needs to be a year of regrowth and rebuilding for them, focusing on fewer smartphones centred around a core brand.

HTC is expected to debut big things at Mobile World Congress at the end of February.

Source: Mobile Today
Via: The Next Web

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