HTC revamps high-end strategy to take on iPhone 6S
2015/09/29 20:36:58
HTC North Asia President Jack Tong.
Taipei, Sept. 29 (CNA) HTC Corp. (宏達電) unveiled two flagship smartphones in Japan Tuesday as part of a drive to compete against Apple Inc.'s iPhone 6S and 6S Plus models amid shorter product cycles of Android handsets.
The launch of the One M9+ with improved camera features and the Butterfly 3 marks the first time HTC has unveiled two flagship handsets in the second half of a single year, a further move away from the company's traditional strategy of releasing just one premium smartphone per year.
Jack Tong (董俊良), president of HTC North Asia, told a press briefing at the launch that the Taiwanese company hopes that releasing more flagship phones in the same year will help attract more consumer attention away from the launch of new iPhones, as well as expand its high-end offerings for telecom operators.
Tong said he expects the two new HTC flagship phones to boost the company's sales in the fourth quarter and help it to regain its market share in the high-end segment.
Compared with its previous version, launched in April this year, the upgraded One M9+ sports a better camera module built with a laser-focus feature and optical image stabilization (OIS), which can compensate for a small amount of vibration.
The third generation of the Butterfly is a tailor-made model for the Japan and Taiwan markets, featuring a 5.2-inch 2K screen, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of expandable storage capacity, a 20-megapixel rear camera, a 13-megapixel front-facing camera and a 2700mAh battery.
Apple said Monday that it has sold more than 13 million new iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus models, setting a new record for the first three days of iPhone sales.
The iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus, launched Sept. 9 with the force-sensitive "3D Touch" technology embedded in the screen, will be available in more than 40 additional countries beginning Oct. 9 including Italy, Mexico, Russia, Spain and Taiwan. The new iPhones will be available in over 130 countries by the end of the year.
HTC shares gained 4.95 percent to close at NT$63.6 (US$1.93) in the last trading session of the Taiwan Stock Exchange Sept. 25.
(By Jeffrey Wu)
