HTC struggling to sell 1 million HTC 10 units this year?

[Habiib]

They will have to settle for razor thin margins if they want to sell in good numbers. Selling a for a premium price won't work because they just don't have the name anymore.

Yes they will. I've not had a chance to look at their balance sheet lately, but they need to really figure out why their operating costs are so high and are nuking their revenue. If sales continue to slide and they don't make adjustments to how they conduct business, they'll just be accelerating their side into bankruptcy.

If significant reductions can be made with their operating costs, then maybe they can make due with smaller profit margins short term. I think this is where someone like John Chen from Blackberry could come in, identify the problem and come up with a solution from that standpoint.

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[tet-bundy]

No phone is perfect.

Very much unlike the price of an s7 suggests...

 

[aha]

This kind of discussions happened over and over and over on BlackBerry forums too. Many BlackBerry users believed BlackBerry phones were/are the best phones for their needs too... only if BlackBerry ramps up their marketing.

But no, it's never that simple. When an once successful company began its downward trajectory, the elements brought it down are already entangled at all levels. Rebound could happen but It takes lots of luck and some extraordinary effort to take it back to its original course.

I think HTC is pretty much doomed.

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[jimbo1mcm]

This kind of discussions happened over and over and over on BlackBerry forums too. Many BlackBerry users believed BlackBerry phones were/are the best phones for their needs too... only if BlackBerry ramps up their marketing.

But no, it's never that simple. When an once successful company began its downward trajectory, the elements brought it down are already entangled at all levels. Rebound could happen but It takes lots of luck and some extraordinary effort to take it back to its original course.

I think HTC is pretty much doomed.

Posted via Android Central App

Well, if Google gives HTC a contract to build Nexus phones for the next 3 years, they aren't doomed.

 

[Ry]

HTC started by manufacturing phones for all other major brands (a lot of old BlackBerries are made by HTC) before it ventured out to make its own brand of phones (XDA-Developers get its name from various xDA smartphones HTC shipped). Too bad, OEM phone business is now all in China (think Foxcom).

A lot of people have this affinity for HTC since they released the first Android phone.

Posted via the Android Central App on the Moto X Pure Edition

 

[Ry]

Yes they will. I've not had a chance to look at their balance sheet lately, but they need to really figure out why their operating costs are so high and are nuking their revenue. If sales continue to slide and they don't make adjustments to how they conduct business, they'll just be accelerating their side into bankruptcy.

If significant reductions can be made with their operating costs, then maybe they can make due with smaller profit margins short term. I think this is where someone like John Chen from Blackberry could come in, identify the problem and come up with a solution from that standpoint.

Posted via the Android Central App

Thing is, HTC is primarily in the smartphone business while most of their competitors have other businesses to fall back on.

Posted via the Android Central App on the Moto X Pure Edition

 

[foxbat121]

A lot of people have this affinity for HTC since they released the first Android phone.

Posted via the Android Central App on the Moto X Pure Edition

I personally owned 3 or 4 different HTC Windows Mobile phones long before Android showed up.

 

[firebirder]

A lot of people have this affinity for HTC since they released the first Android phone.

Posted via the Android Central App on the Moto X Pure Edition

And it was a great phone! But I think they relief on that too much and customers bought not such great phones based on htc making them which had lead us to this point. Hope to see htc power through this. I do think of htc stepped up up the marketing the 10 would sell better but not sure the cost outweighs the benefit.

If the next Nexus is made by htc (not sure if that's confirmed of not), hoping that can help them. Don't know how many nexus phones are sold though,whether that will be enough.

Do what do y'all think? Is this the last htc flagship?

 

[Habiib]

Thing is, HTC is primarily in the smartphone business while most of their competitors have other businesses to fall back on.

Posted via the Android Central App on the Moto X Pure Edition

That's one of the reasons why the end of their existence is a guarantee. They don't have a brand name that'll allow them to diversify their target markets and have a chance to be successful (from a sales standpoint). I'm sure they'll exist in some form after they collapse, but most likely it'll be with collaborative efforts with more prominent companies. Their VR effort seems to follow that pattern.

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[ThrottleJohnny]

People talk about "gimmicks" like they're always a bad thing, but with the buying public, that's not always the case and companies know this.

Samsung has edge screens free VR and water resistance. Apple added new so called gimmicks to its latest phone.

HTC...a solid phone? What exactly were they suppose to market? Our phone does what every other flagship does, but nothing particularly special?

That may work with phone enthusiasts, but the public will just hold on to the phone they already have.

You have to give people a more compelling reason to give you a second look.

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[Habiib]

People talk about "gimmicks" like they're always a bad thing, but with the buying public, that's not always the case and companies know this.

Samsung has edge screens free VR and water resistance. Apple added new so called gimmicks to its latest phone.

HTC...a solid phone? What exactly were they suppose to market? Our phone does what every other flagship does, but nothing particularly special?

That may work with phone enthusiasts, but the public will just hold on to the phone they already have.

You have to give people a more compelling reason to give you a second look.

Posted via the Android Central App

Here's the problem with that notion. The HTC 10 could have had everything the S7 has and then some. This includes every facet from specs, design, features, etc. and market it in every country on earth. Still no one would buy it, relatively speaking.

I remember some naïve fanboys were drumming a while back about how SD card support, removable batteries, swift software updates, small bezels, etc were what HTC needed to sell more devices.

So how do you sell a brand no one knows or care about? How do you market a low ranking brand? How do you increase interest and awareness of a small brand? How do you manage to get the attention of a target audience whose loyalty and confidence lies with two dominant brands that continue to grow stronger? I think the market has permanently gone in a direction where small brands can't survive.

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[ThrottleJohnny]

You know what you don't do? You don't fold your tents and give up. You fight and you fight. And the way to fight is to market something the competition doesn't already offer. You give people a compelling reason to at least take a look at an alternative.

LG did a great job of just that with the G4 and V10. At least give your marketing department something to work with.

Being great is not good enough anymore. Everyone is putting out great.



Posted via the Android Central App

 

[Ry]

You know what you don't do? You don't fold your tents and give up. You fight and you fight. And the way to fight is to market something the competition doesn't already offer. You give people a compelling reason to at least take a look at an alternative.

LG did a great job of just that with the G4 and V10. At least give your marketing department something to work with.

Being great is not good enough anymore. Everyone is putting out great.



Posted via the Android Central App

I'm no expert but I think these contributed to HTC's decline:

1. Samsung wanting to be like Apple. Samsung spent the money to push as many people as possible to a Galaxy phone.

2. Chinese OEMs being bigger players. The rise of Huawei, Oppo, ZTE, Xiaomi, and Lenovo. The Desires became less desirable.

3. Lackluster "Ones". First - let's rebrand as One but put out three Ones and some new Ones later. Then let the follow up be one One and a few One variants. Let's regress the camera and make a new One. After that, let's follow that up with a One that has similar design language as the time they released one One.

 

[frankenhooker]

I hope they don't go to the wall, but if they do they'll always have my gratitude for the M8. I loved that phone, up there with the Nexus 5 as one of my favourite handsets.

 

[Dongox]

I hope they sell bc it's a great device, but no one knows about it.

I've been to several stores that don't have it in stock and most didn't even have a display model.

I was in a Best Buy Mobile shop this week and the guy didn't know anything about it except that he could 'order one'.

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[erasat]

You know what you don't do? You don't fold your tents and give up. You fight and you fight. And the way to fight is to market something the competition doesn't already offer. You give people a compelling reason to at least take a look at an alternative.

LG did a great job of just that with the G4 and V10. At least give your marketing department something to work with.

Being great is not good enough anymore. Everyone is putting out great.



Posted via the Android Central App

Exactly what I've been saying all along.

 

[Habiib]

I'm no expert but I think these contributed to HTC's decline:

1. Samsung wanting to be like Apple. Samsung spent the money to push as many people as possible to a Galaxy phone.

2. Chinese OEMs being bigger players. The rise of Huawei, Oppo, ZTE, Xiaomi, and Lenovo. The Desires became less desirable.

3. Lackluster "Ones". First - let's rebrand as One but put out three Ones and some new Ones later. Then let the follow up be one One and a few One variants. Let's regress the camera and make a new One. After that, let's follow that up with a One that has similar design language as the time they released one One.

I'll go with #1 and #2. Once Samsung convinced the buying public that their products are a worthy alternative (or superior) to the iPhone and their popularity surged, around the time of the S3 launch, HTC had almost impossible odds to change that perception.

I know people want to harp on the M9, but even if it matched the leaked renders and had an DSLR beating camera, it still would not have saved HTC from their current predicament.

When carrier stores reach a point where 95% (just a guess) of customers want an iPhone or Galaxy phone, I'm guessing what will happen next is that more carriers are going to abandon selling HTC devices altogether. There won't be much demand for anything HTC sells going forward, so that's the likely outcome.

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[Stevenmc8602]

I'll go with #1 and #2. Once Samsung convinced the buying public that their products are a worthy alternative (or superior) to the iPhone and their popularity surged, around the time of the S3 launch, HTC had almost impossible odds to change that perception.

I know people want to harp on the M9, but even if it matched the leaked renders and had an DSLR beating camera, it still would not have saved HTC from their current predicament.

When carrier stores reach a point where 95% (just a guess) of customers want an iPhone or Galaxy phone, I'm guessing what will happen next is that more carriers are going to abandon selling HTC devices altogether. There won't be much demand for anything HTC sells going forward, so that's the likely outcome.

Posted via the Android Central App

I agree with that part... ppl like to blame the m9 for the decline in sales but plain and simple, htc had already lost it's demand... ppl were going so hard for samsung and apple at that point already that no matter how great of a phone it was, no one was really looking for it except like tech ppl

 

[Habiib]

You know what you don't do? You don't fold your tents and give up. You fight and you fight. And the way to fight is to market something the competition doesn't already offer. You give people a compelling reason to at least take a look at an alternative.

LG did a great job of just that with the G4 and V10. At least give your marketing department something to work with.

Being great is not good enough anymore. Everyone is putting out great.



Posted via the Android Central App

HTC did that already and it did not work out. They can continue dumping resources in developing smartphones that few will buy or they can find other opportunities to invest their money where they have a chance to succeed. For HTC to salvage their downfall is akin to burning a $100 bill and trying to reconstruct it using its ashes. It's better to just get another $100 bill. In the end, I'm far more confident in HTC's chances in the VR or other markets, than their chances in the smartphone market. We shall see.

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[MartinMPL]

HTC can't get their phones right so that's why they fail. I want to love the 10 but:

Terrible battery life.
Poor screen. Outdoors, the worst I've (not) seen in years.
Sub par camera compared to other flagships.

I came from an S7 Edge. And while there are plusses and minuses on both. The S7 Edge wins on the above very important factors. I was ready for a change, so fine but I don't think I'll stick with the 10 beyond the Moto Z or Nexus release.