HTC has been riding the struggle bus for a very long time, going from one of the biggest smartphones manufacturers on the planet to a company that's barely managing to keep the doors open. There have been tons of rumors about when and how HTC will finally go under, including being bought up by a bigger player, but those reports might have been premature.
HTC still isn't in great shape, but June was the best month they've had in half a year. They posted almost $47 million in revenue, which is a massive, almost 100% spike from the $24 million in revenue for May. Their strategy of focusing more on cheaper mid-range devices and staying close to Valve in the VR space seems to at least keep them on solid ground.
$50 million in a month is still incredibly small compared to the heavier hitters and the HTC of 2011, but it's a step in the right direction. They released a couple of Taiwan-only phones back in May, and they're holding off on jumping back into the flagship market where they tend to get skewered by the latest Galaxy S or iPhone and consequently lose a bunch of money. Valve also just ran their summer sale with a big marketing push for the Valve Index, which HTC manufactures. That won't beat out their phone revenues, but it should give HTC a nice little push.
But that still leaves HTC in a position where they have to figure out where to go next. Mid-range phones, especially if they offer good value and decent software support, can do a pretty good job of floating a company and keeping their competitive. Just look at Motorola, who focuses almost exclusively on phones below the flagship line these days. But, conversely, focusing on just the mid-range is going to keep you from ever being a billion dollar company because the margins are worse and there's a ton of competition.
And that brings us back around to HTC's weird, strained relationship with high-end, premium phones. Whether or not you're selling millions of them, having a flagship device with a recognizable brand helps the rest of your phone lineup, assuming people like it. Samsung's Galaxy S10 is the biggest, baddest phone that everyone wants, but at $1000, not everyone can afford it; but someone that's looking into the Galaxy S10 and doesn't want to spend that much money is more likely to check out a cheaper Samsung Galaxy device. That person is less likely to want to leave the Galaxy ecosystem and try a Motorola or an HTC, and that's in no small part thanks to Samsung building that Galaxy brand up into something extremely desirable and recognizable.
That's where HTC will hit a wall. Not only did they get super weird with their branding with the HTC One M7/M8/M9 followed by the U line, but they didn't keep anything consistent throughout the years. People know what a Galaxy is, but why would you expect the average person to know or care about the U19e?
And at this point, maybe HTC has already missed the boat. But here's to hoping that they've bought enough time to give it another shot.
via: Notebook Check
