HTC chief says U.S. is not a major focus.

Nreeldeep

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The following excerpt is from eweek, 3 days ago. Take special note of the paragraph highlighting HTC's strategy to concentrate on European and asian markets as opposed to U. S. markets, due to stiff competition.
Sheds light on why there was never a major marketing campaign for the Evo lte stateside.

Samsung Riding High as HTC Continues to Slip, Refocuses on China Posted on Sunday Jul 8th 2012 by Michelle Maisto. Filed under: Enterprise Mobility

Samsung announced record earnings that were largely aided by sales of its Galaxy smartphones, while the same day HTC announced a third consecutive quarter of losses.

HTC, like Nokia and BlackBerry maker Research In Motion, has learned how slippery the smartphone market's downhill is and how tough it is to climb back up after a fall. Meanwhile, Samsung continues to enjoy the view from the top.

Taiwan-based HTC announced its third consecutive quarter of losses July 6. Its second-quarter net income was down 58 percent from a year earlier, to $247 million, by Bloomberg's calculations.

Apple's patent disputes with the company played a part in its damaged income; smartphones were stuck for a time in U.S. Customs, as the phone makers battled in court. More at fault, however, was HTC's inability to compete against the Apple iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy line of smartphones in the United States.

HTC was an early Android supporter and enjoyed a strong response, in 2010, to its Evo 4G-at the time, the phone's launch was Sprint's most successful ever. When HTC launched the Droid Incredible, analysts conceded that HTC had gone from the edge to the cutting edge-though added that it would be interesting to see how the next year played out.

The year, alas, sent HTC back to the edge of the market, as Samsung's Galaxy lineup gained momentum.

In April, HTC CEO Peter Chou told investors that, due to the steep competition the company faced in the United States, it planned to shift its focus to the European and Asian markets.

"New models which are tailored for China have helped it continue boosting sales in the world's largest mobile phone market," Bloomberg reported July 6, citing the firm SINO-MR. The firm added that in China HTC could face "severe price competition," as its low-end models lack some of the functionality of its competitors' low-end devices.

Samsung, meanwhile, on July 6 released sales estimates for its second quarter that set a new record for profits. Second-quarter profits were up nearly 80 percent from a year earlier. Analysts, the Associated Press reported, say the "sharp rise" came, thanks to Samsung's Galaxy smartphones.

In late June, JK Shin, head of Samsung's mobile division, pointed to as much, saying that sales of the Galaxy S III were expected to reach 10 million units in July.

"We're getting far better reviews on the S III than we did with its predecessors globally... and supply simply can't meet soaring demand," Shin told reporters, adding that second-quarter results were likely to exceed Samsung's also-excellent first quarter.

The U.S. launch of the Galaxy S III followed debuts in 28 countries, and supplies have been slow to arrive. Sprint pushed back its launch by 10 days, T-Mobile launched with only 16GB models in stock, and AT&T, Verizon Wireless and U.S. Cellular were coy about their launch dates, only announcing them once it was clear they'd have supplies in hand to sell.

Because of the delays, analysts dialed down second-quarter earnings for Samsung and boosted third-quarter estimates.

The Galaxy S III is an unusual phone in many respects-a standout in a market at pains to differentiate Android-running devices. Still, Samsung's earning growth, according to Bloomberg, was driven not only by sales of its own phones but-thanks to its chip and display businesses-by the devices of its competitors as well.

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RyDawgBoston

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HTC is done. They should have listened to the people and fixed their problems. Its only themselves to blame.

I hope Samsung gets working on their new LCD screens soon.
 
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Darth Mo

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HTC is done. They should have listened to the people and fixed their problems. Its only themselves to blame.

I hope Samsung gets working on their new LCD screens soon.

A little too pro-USA are we?

US population: 300 million
China + Europe population: 2.5 billion

Seems good business sense to me to concentrate on the market that is almost ten times the size.
 

kbp08tls

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The only thing keeping me on the EVO is that I just don't like the S3, and there's nothing else on Sprint compelling enough to get me to switch. All I can hope for at this point is at least an OTA to fix initial issues, and source to drop so the devs can work some real magic on it.
 

w5cyc

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I never understand all the praise for Samsung. I've owned two of their Androids: the Moment and the Nexus S 4G. The Moment was the worst Android I've ever owned. The Nexus was a close second. I've owned the Evo, the Evo 3D and now the LTE. The 3D and the LTE have both had their issues, but it terms of build quality and reliability in use, both are better than either Sammy.
 

Saneless

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HTC is done. They should have listened to the people and fixed their problems. Its only themselves to blame..
Couldn't be more true.

Was there an HTC phone that didn't have issues?

Nexus One: They probably used the worst touchscreen/digitizer that was on the market and didn't even set the capacitive buttons right.

EVO 4G: Out of memory all the time, thanks to Sense. I have to walk my mom through this weekly to help her fix it.

Incredible: Same issue, even worse, and they shafted everyone on the battery even though it could have handled the same one as the EVO 4G.

EVO 3D: ttttty camera (not just MP, but quality overall), zero support, horrible touchscreen that broke down for many, and they haven't updated it like they should have. Oh and they crippled the unlocking on it for most people.

One X: Good hardware, storage capacity of Apple's top phone from 2008.

EVO LTE: They didn't do their homework and shortchanged it on memory when they should have known that S4 (high video ram stolen from base ram) + even more bloated sense + many bloated HTC background apps + aggressive settings = a horrrible experience.

And just in general HTC has been bad about releasing source, fixing issues, and generally once you buy their phone you are screwed and left for dead. It's no surprise people wouldn't support getting burned again and apparently I'm one of the rare few who have bought an HTC phone more than once (Nexus, EVO 3D, LTE).

I can definitely say never again. I'd buy motorola or Sony before I bought another HTC
 
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Mikey47

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A little too pro-USA are we?

US population: 300 million
China + Europe population: 2.5 billion

Seems good business sense to me to concentrate on the market that is almost ten times the size.

Not too mention that they have essentially one model for the rest of the world and have to do about 186 models for the US market.

Wish the US would just go to GSM like the rest of the world.
 
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Darth Mo

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Not too mention that they have essentially one model for the rest of the world and have to do about 186 models for the US market.

Wish the US would just go to GSM like the rest of the world.

Yep. Plus they have to deal with one of their top phones getting returned due to Sprints current network woes. Add to that Apple's shenanigans and the US is probably more headaches than its worth.
 
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Habiib

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I interpret this as a long term strategy, by focusing efforts where they strongly believes they can make a profit. But I have to ask why they even bothered with the US market if they weren't willing to invest in advertisement?

Sent from my EVO using Android Central Forums
 

Habiib

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I never understand all the praise for Samsung. I've owned two of their Androids: the Moment and the Nexus S 4G. The Moment was the worst Android I've ever owned. The Nexus was a close second. I've owned the Evo, the Evo 3D and now the LTE. The 3D and the LTE have both had their issues, but it terms of build quality and reliability in use, both are better than either Sammy.

I kind of noticed in some reviews against the S3, they start objective, then end with "I like x features on the S3 so I'm picking the S3 as the winner"

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BigDinCA

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I don't see how HTC is any worse than any other manufacturer. I actually think they are a step above. Including Samsung. I don't know many people who wouldn't agree that the HTC build is superior to most. And everyone on these forums that complains about Sense is ridiculous. We all knew going in what we were getting. I personally like Sense but understand why lots of people don't. But when I see all of the posts about hating it, I wonder if people thought they were getting the first HTC phone without Sense installed. There was an insane review of it here on AC long before anyone got an EVO. If you don't like it, don't buy the phone. If you like the hardware but hate the UI, wait until developers have a crack at it and release their ROMs.

I've had all 3 EVOs and liked them all. They have all had their issues, but I've also dealt with the plethora of issues that Samsung presents and will choose HTC every time. And if you have to choose an OEM UI, isn't Sense better than anything that Sammy or Moto have ever offered?
 
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Ry

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Couldn't be more true.

Was there an HTC phone that didn't have issues?

Nexus One: They probably used the worst touchscreen/digitizer that was on the market and didn't even set the capacitive buttons right.

EVO 4G: Out of memory all the time, thanks to Sense. I have to walk my mom through this weekly to help her fix it.

Incredible: Same issue, even worse, and they shafted everyone on the battery even though it could have handled the same one as the EVO 4G.

EVO 3D: ttttty camera (not just MP, but quality overall), zero support, horrible touchscreen that broke down for many, and they haven't updated it like they should have. Oh and they crippled the unlocking on it for most people.

One X: Good hardware, storage capacity of Apple's top phone from 2008.

EVO LTE: They didn't do their homework and shortchanged it on memory when they should have known that S4 (high video ram stolen from base ram) + even more bloated sense + many bloated HTC background apps + aggressive settings = a horrrible experience.

And just in general HTC has been bad about releasing source, fixing issues, and generally once you buy their phone you are screwed and left for dead. It's no surprise people wouldn't support getting burned again and apparently I'm one of the rare few who have bought an HTC phone more than once (Nexus, EVO 3D, LTE).

I can definitely say never again. I'd buy motorola or Sony before I bought another HTC

...has there been any Android phone that has had no issues?

Sent from my DROID BIONIC using Android Central Forums
 

Darth Mo

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I interpret this as a long term strategy, by focusing efforts where they strongly believes they can make a profit. But I have to ask why they even bothered with the US market if they weren't willing to invest in advertisement?

Sent from my EVO using Android Central Forums

Well, remember they were in pretty good position when WinMo phones were still relevant.

But when Samsung engulfed Android, there's really no way they can compete.
 

Nreeldeep

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I interpret this as a long term strategy, by focusing efforts where they strongly believes they can make a profit. But I have to ask why they even bothered with the US market if they weren't willing to invest in advertisement?

I'm not certain if HTC even has a strategy. They say they insist on only selling medium to high end devices, but in China the market is for medium to low end devices, where Apple and Samsung already have market share ahead of HTC.
HTC is sounding a little hard headed. HTC is not going to survive if they think they can find success only selling high end models, especially in China where that model won't succeed. What's next when HTC loses out on China? Are they gonna pull focus out of China as they are doing in the U. S. and take up shop in Africa? Iceland? Who's next?
At some point they're gonna have to change their business model and stay somewhere and fight.
Their existence depends on it.
The Evo Lte is a fantastic device. I love how they pushed the envelope with the design of the device, love it or hate it. You gotta give em credit for not playing safe. The insistence on using higher end materials.
Too bad the public isn't aware of it. But during almost every commercial break on tv I see an ad about how the Galaxy S3 watches your every move and stalks you in the night. And Samsung is about to release some new spots aimed at Apple.
Advertising, advertising, advertising.
The S3 is no better than the Evo Lte. But Samsung broke the stalemate by creating buzz. Excitement. That was the tiebreaker. HTC released the Evo and then basically abandoned it. Didn't even give advertising a try. And don't start me up about their tv spot showing people playing instruments on their Evos. That was as poorly executed as the pale bony woman in the grey dress, sitting on a rock in the middle of a desert fondling the Palm Pre. Rest in peace Palm.
How can you claim defeat when you never even waged war? Damn throw a few blows first before you pull out the white flag. You never know: one of the blows might land.
HTC should be ashamed of themselves.

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BigDinCA

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Well, remember they were in pretty good position when WinMo phones were still relevant.

But when Samsung engulfed Android, there's really no way they can compete.

I think they can. People thought the same of the iPhone, and Sammy is really taking it to Apple now. It took some time, and HTC to lead the way honestly, but Samsung is getting the job done, no doubt. For the record, I had many of HTC's WinMo phones and, like Android, they all had their little issue but were basically rock solid devices. But Samsung has the resources from all of their other ventures (displays and memory to other OEMs and their consumer electronics products) to afford them the ability, and the bravado required, to take on Apple and everyone else. And kudos to them for doing so, but I am an HTC guy and will be until they give me a reason not to be. And Sense, for me, is not a rerason to abandon HTC. I like it. If I didn't, it root and flash.

And the first person to point to the pics of the bent ƎVO should be slapped. It's made of aluminum, not cast iron or high-carbon tool steel. It will bend, like aluminum does. But I am staring at it's display right now and I am still giddy about it.
 
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Habiib

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I agree, from a sales and public perception standpoint, it is a tall order to become a dominant factor over Samsung. As far as devices are concerned, in my opinion, they stand toe to toe with Apple and Samsung. I just hope they didn't give up on making the US market a priority, because they didn't get instant revenue gain with their new approach (along with the customs setback).

Sent from my EVO using Android Central Forums
 

RyDawgBoston

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HTC should just hire XDA devs!

HTC makes great hardware and durable devices. Its their software glitches is what needs improvement.

How come XDA devs can fix issues, but HTC can't? They need the right people.
 
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mazzmoney95

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I dont blame them.

EU+Asia- 2.5 Billion people- Same 3 phones everywhere (One X, One S, One V)
US-300 Million people- One S, One XL, Droid Incredible LTE, One V, EVO LTE.

In the US they have to deal with LTE and CDMA, things they arent accustomed to dealing with anywhere else. Then they have Apple up the A$$ stopping their products from entering the US for a week. We arent worth the hassle.
 

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