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HTC Had Its Biggest Drop In Sales In More Than Two Years (bgr.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the beginning-of-the-end dept.

HTC has been struggling to stay competitive for years now with its Android handsets and virtual-reality headsets, and it still can't seem to get any relief. As BGR reports, the latest ominous headline points to a nearly 68-percent sales slump in June, marking HTC's worst results in more than two years. From the report: Even beyond all that, the company has had a tough go of it lately. There have been a few rounds off layoffs this year alone, the most recent being the company's culling of 1,500 workers from its Taiwan manufacturing division. After HTC president of smartphone and connected devices Chialin Chang resigned in February, the company also gave pink slips to several U.S. workers in the wake of combining its smartphone and VR units. Those 1,500 workers being axed, it also should be noted, comprise almost a quarter of the company's worldwide workforce.

Reuters on Friday quoted an unnamed analyst at market research firm Trendforce who puts the blame for some of this at HTC's feet partly as a result of unexciting products. "In the high-end segment, the sales of their flagship phone this year has been lower than expected, leading to lower market share," the analyst notes. "As for HTC's middle-end and entry-level series, the new models feature neither new specs nor high performance-price ratio, influencing the sales."

45 comments

  1. Then release a phone people want by xack · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Removable battery and sd card, unlocked bootloader several years of updates headphone jack and no notch. Is that so hard for phone companies to make?

    1. Re:Then release a phone people want by Luckyo · · Score: 1

      Very few people want that. Focusing on them over the wide audience is how you go bankrupt.

      Sad but true.

    2. Re:Then release a phone people want by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Yes. It is when no one buys them and you lose money.

    3. Re:Then release a phone people want by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You seem like someone I'd like running security operations at my company, but the last person I'd want in my marketing department.

    4. Re:Then release a phone people want by williamyf · · Score: 3, Insightful

      Very few people want that. Focusing on them over the wide audience is how you go bankrupt.

      Sad but true.

      Luckyo, I think you are wrong, and maybe xack is into something. Is true that the wider audience does not want the thicker not shinny phone combo, but with a 68% sales slump, maybe the (diminished*) HTC phone division may be better financially by forgeting about blockbuster Flagship Uber-Phones that appeal to the wide market, and focus on a niche instead.

      Look at Blackberry Mobile (a completely different company from Blackberry propper) focusing on the Keyboard phone niche, or bullit (a british company licensing the CAT brand) focusing on HyperRugged phones. Maybe HTC could be the king of DualSim+MicroSD card at the same time + 3.5mm Jack + Remomable battery + 36 hour battery time niche. It will not restore their former smartphone glory, but at least, the phone division will not bleed cash.

      Food for tought.

      * Diminished because many of the top smartphone engineering talent went to Google a little while ago.

      --
      *** Suerte a todos y Feliz dia!
    5. Re: Then release a phone people want by Dixie_Flatline · · Score: 2

      Why would you think that is the phone people want when Apple has 3 of the top 10 selling phones and one of them literally has none of the things you mentioned?

      You just described the phone you want, and somehow that counts as an expert opinion on what the market wants more broadly? Back up your claim.

    6. Re:Then release a phone people want by dohzer · · Score: 1

      Main desire: no bloat.

    7. Re:Then release a phone people want by Luckyo · · Score: 1

      Or it will bleed even more as it will lose the "thin phone" crowd entirely, all while not being able to sell you a new phone every couple of years because you can just pop a new battery into it instead and keep using it.

      Remember that laws of supply and demand are moderated not just by positive impulses, but by negative ones as well. Built in battery for example is a great example of a negative impulse that improves the demand.

    8. Re:Then release a phone people want by Anne+Thwacks · · Score: 1
      Very few people want that.

      That is not true. Very few people KNOW that is how the thing they want is described.

      A certain number of people want iPhones* because of the reality distortion field, and clearly that includes the CxOs of a large number of Android manufacturers.

      * iPhones are the ones with broken screens and flat batteries, which their owners cant afford to replace because they spent their entire worldly wealth on buying the POS in the first place.

      --
      Sent from my ASR33 using ASCII
    9. Re: Then release a phone people want by CoolDiscoRex · · Score: 1
      People. Real people. Non-Geeks, have grown tired of crapware. Killing battery life, sapping performance. Regular, everyday people hate it.

      We live in a world where we tell the top 10-20% IQ'ed people that we don't care what they want. That they will get what the bottom 80% will accept, and they'll like it. We get people championing the decision.

      Cater to the masses, forget those demanding people who probably work in the industries that make the technology that the 80% uses.

      I'm sure it'll be fine.

    10. Re: Then release a phone people want by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It is called different target audience. You are assuming that iphone buyers are buying based on the features on the latest phone or that HTC is trying to grab iphone customers. There are crap tonnes of people who don't have and dont want an iphone. Apple may have the 3 best selling phones but its marketshare is definitely not the largest when its all added together. There are FAR more owners of non iphones than there are iphone owners.

    11. Re:Then release a phone people want by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Welp, I guess they're going bankrupt then. No reason to try anything different!

      Right off the cliff! Don't change direction.

    12. Re:Then release a phone people want by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No, he isn't. In fact he is exactly to the point. I would even add IR-blaster to the mix as well.

      The problem is that handset-makers drooled us over with all the available tech crammed into the phone in 2013/2014 and then later on decided to hike the prices but removing each and every of those features. Just as people got accustomed to an all in-one high-end phone, we suddenly had to compromise. Nobody ever asked me whether I like having no audio-jack (which in itself took years before phones had a global standard of connecting them to headphones and amplifiers). Nobody ever asked me if I'd want to replace a notification LED for 2 small side-bars and a notch in-between. In fact nobody ever asks me anything. Thus I don't buy anything (especially not from companies whom have no regards to their customer's wishes).

      And IF a handset manufacturer asks if people want any of this, like LG did on Reddit with regards to the notch. And the overwhelming response is NO. Then the manufacturers should at least have the decency to build that phone to those potential customers' demands. In this particular case LG did the exact opposite! If you as a manufacturer show your customers the middle finger then do NOT expect sales of your handset.

      HTC does the same thing. Neglecting consumer's wishes. Increasing prices and removing features. Thus people tend to neglect HTC in return.

      Again, if I had in 2014 for 600bucks a phone with literally everything crammed into it, including notification LED, IR-blaster, user-replaceable battery, audio jack and the usual things like wifi, BT, LTE etc... then I expect in 2018 for 900bucks a phone that has even MORE tech crammed into it not less! For all I care I not only want an IR-blaster today but an FM/DAB-radio, radio-controlled remote, FM-transmitter next to the new Bluetooth 6.xx or 7.xx and new Wifi AD-or wathever-the-new-kid-on-block-is. I expect either an audio-jack + USB-C-port or 2 USB-C ports. Just as I expect dual sim AND sd-card expansion.

      HTC should get it's head out of its arse and start LISTENING to consumers first before building a handset. And if the overwhelming demand is for NO notch, for the inclusion of a 3.5" audio-jack, for stereo-boomsound speakers, for micro-SD-card expansion, for an IR-blaster THEN make that device that you customer wants.

      I can let a PC being build at the local computer-specialist entirely to my own specifications including the LED-colours of those bloody fans. Yet I can't buy a smartphone that cost as much as an entire computer with the feature-set that I want? In fact a cheaper phone (e.g. Honor 8) has more features than the top-of-the-line Galaxy S7 (to remain at phones from the same era)? Explain THAT!

    13. Re:Then release a phone people want by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "...all while not being able to sell you a new phone every couple of years because you can just pop a new battery into it instead and keep using it...."

      Oh please, thanks to Apple phones have become status symbols just as cars and mansions. The people with enough money will ALWAYS buy the next new bling. Or do you really think that Samsung lost so much sales due to the S4 having a removable battery when the S5 came to the market (which also had a removable battery)? The S5 was a massive success because it had more innovations and tech compared to the S4. Perhaps manufactures are out of ideas in 2018/19? Perhaps the R&D departments all over the world have a burn-out? Oh Dear. Then perhaps they shouldn't charge so much for these bloody phones with less features!

      The people with less money will either keep their high-end phone a little longer or buy a cheaper model. Not to mention that over time a battery will be seen as too expensive compared to the new model. So eventually everyone buys a new phone.

    14. Re: Then release a phone people want by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      No the really weird thing is, is that the phone with notch is the least popular (and also the most expensive).

      Yet Android handset makers seem to stubbornly focus on copying that particular model

      And as for Apple, perhaps even their loyal customers find 1000bucks for a phone too much!

      As for HTC. If you keep neglecting your customers wishes then eventually customers will neglect you!
      Perhaps HTC should just get lost. Become that OEM again from the old days. And build phones for other (established) brands like e.g. TCL does.

      I also wonder how it could get so wrong. I mean, these are the guys that made the hugely popular HTC Touch Diamond and HTC HD2 back in the old days.

    15. Re:Then release a phone people want by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      As shown by all the bankrupt companies putting out phones with those features and losing customers.

    16. Re: Then release a phone people want by Luckyo · · Score: 1

      Put your money were your mouth is and start up a company that does that. 10-20% of the most expensive part of the smartphone market would be huge piece to grab.

    17. Re:Then release a phone people want by Luckyo · · Score: 1

      Problem being that "eventually" is significantly longer than two years.

  2. Havnt had an HTC since the dream. by BrookHarty · · Score: 1

    I jumped on the HTC G1 Dream and modded it for years, but HTC never stood out for over the years. I never see an HTC flagship phone that wins on price or an stand out feature. Note was the big screen and pen, LG V series had a headphone dac and best noise canceling recording. Other won on price.

    Essential was a neat idea, but way overpriced for the time.

    I just cant remember when HTC had a flagship or price point to compare against any other phone. I dont even remember hearing about HTC phones for years.

  3. Phone sales plummeting, not Vives by cirby · · Score: 1

    They're apparently selling quite a few Vives. They're keeping up with a fairly rapidly expanding market, at least.

    1. Re: Phone sales plummeting, not Vives by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Just not as many as the rift.

    2. Re:Phone sales plummeting, not Vives by Desler · · Score: 1

      Sony's PS4 VR outsells the Vive by more than a 3 to 1 margin and even then that's only with Sony selling around 2 million units so far this year and barely over a million last year.

    3. Re:Phone sales plummeting, not Vives by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If they halve the price of the Vive Pro I'll order one immediately. The current pricing seems bananas.

    4. Re:Phone sales plummeting, not Vives by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Sony's product is a third of the price and has the entire ps4 platform to go along with it when it comes to getting software and the like. The vive is still doing very well.

    5. Re:Phone sales plummeting, not Vives by Desler · · Score: 1

      Sony's product is a third of the price

      PS4VR bundle has a list price of $370. The HTC Vive VR bundle goes for a list price of $499. You seem to use a different set of math than the rest of the world since $370 is not 1/3rd the price of $499. Even at the discounted $300 that you can buy the PS4VR system for at places like Walmart, the PS4VR bundle is still 60% the price of a Vive not the 1/3rd you claim. To find these prices only took me 2 minutes to find and had you done so you wouldn't look like such an idiot.

    6. Re:Phone sales plummeting, not Vives by Desler · · Score: 1

      And just so you know where I got my figures:

      PS4VR Bundle
      HTC Vive Bundle

    7. Re:Phone sales plummeting, not Vives by Desler · · Score: 1

      And also before you try to go "but the HTC Vive used to be more expensive!!" that may have been true, but the consumer price at launch was $799 which is still not 3 times to price of even the most discounted price of the PS4VR.

  4. Google "bought" HTC's design staff by Streetlight · · Score: 1

    Seems like one also needs a design/engineering staff to design phones. See: https://www.theverge.com/2018/...

    --
    In a time of universal deceit, telling the truth is a revolutionary act. George Orwell
    1. Re:Google "bought" HTC's design staff by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Typical, Google keeps "buying" phone-engineers yet never brings out anything decent. And eventually sack these people (or sell them out).

      Didn't they had engineers when they bought Motorola? Didn't people back then also expected that Google would build its own phones?
      Perhaps you've already forgotten how well that turned out, I still remember. And thus Google has lost its credibility to me long time ago.

      Naah, Google is just a big heap of ....!

  5. it will be a shame by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I love my HTC phones. I have a One that still works perfectly going on 5 years. Battery still lasts two days.

  6. Perhaps they should update their phones software by dstyle5 · · Score: 4, Interesting

    I bought a HTC U11 last Nov, got it right after they released the Oreo update. Cool I thought, HTC seems to be on the ball with software updates. Unfortunately that was the last software update my phone has received. Still rocking the Dec 2017 security updates, thanks HTC!!! The phone itself is pretty good, such a waste that they aren't supporting it all, other than updating some of their apps.

    As they don't seem to care about customer security, not a big surprise the U12+ is selling poorly. They dug their own grave, time to lie in it HTC. Should've sold your entire phone div to Google, although maybe they didn't want it all. Hmmm.

  7. Last 4 phones were HTC by jfdavis668 · · Score: 1

    I am still a fan. I tried other brands, and they are just the wrong size and the software sucks. Not a fan of the new squeeze side phones, so HTC may be losing me soon. It's a shame.

  8. HTC Made It Big And Hard With Compaq Ipaq. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Then HP got involved, and then she said, No way.

  9. Dead Phone Companies - Nokia, Blackberry, Motorola by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Mobile phone companies ride a trend wave and gain market-share for a short time, sink too much capital as if they will have solid market share for the next 15 years, and then they end up getting sold in a firesale. I'm thinking of...
                Blackberry
                Nokia
                Microsoft Windows CE (used to be very respectable with 20% marketshare in the mid 2000's)
                Palm
                Motorola

    One big exception to this pattern is Apple, thanks to their tight control of everything and pure genius. Samsung still seems to be doing OK too.

             

  10. Isn't that just the Moto G5? by rsilvergun · · Score: 1

    not sure about the years of updates but hey, unlocked bootloader, so do you're own updates. The G5 isn't selling badly, but it's not exactly an iPhone 5/6 style hot commodity.

    --
    Hi! I make Firefox Plug-ins. Check 'em out @ https://addons.mozilla.org/en-US/firefox/addon/youtube-mp3-podcaster/
  11. Beware cheap-shit chinese smartphones by rojash · · Score: 1

    Spyware galore

    1. Re:Beware cheap-shit chinese smartphones by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Put a custom rom on it, problem solved. Hardly something to get that worked up about. Vast majority of cheap chinese phones have unlocked bootloaders too.

  12. I'm over spending $150+ for phones by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    I'm over spending $150+ for phones.
    Just not interested in spending more on a device that lasts only 2 yrs due to poor patching over the lifetime.

    Been burned with other vendors too. Seems the thought that a $400 device should last 5-8 yrs WITH SUPPORT doesn't work for google. I'm done.

    When I've looked, HTC didn't have a compelling $150 phone, so I've purchased from other vendors.

  13. Brand dilution. by Qbertino · · Score: 1

    HTC used to make the best smartphones available. The HTC Desire was at least two generations ahead of everything else including iPhones. The HTC flyer was just as much the pinnacle of tablets, making the iPad look like the cheap knock-off. Awesome devices, showing everyone where things were headed.

    Then HTC started bloating their lineup with countless variants of half-assed devices to the point where even the most enthusiastic completely lost oversight of where HTC was heading, what they actually had to offer and what their value proposition was. They returned from "quietly brilliant" to noisily mediocre, sub-par, aim and visionless.

    Brand dilution destroyed HTC. Today it's a joke, soon to be sold off to some off-brand gravedigger and corporate waste recycler. It's a shame really. I really liked their products and was a bit of a fan.

    Someone at HTC should've read "The 22 immutable laws of marketing".
    It's probably too late now.

    My 2 Eurocents.

    --
    We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca
  14. Re: Perhaps they should update their phones softwa by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Did you ever had any security issue with your HTC? I have an htc 10 and it works as good as the first day. I believe u11 and u12 are even better phones. Battery lasts even longer with the Android 8.0 as I think any other Android phone does
    I will buy HTC again no problem - This guys built the pixel phones and I am looking foward to the new Exodus

  15. Re:Perhaps they should update their phones softwar by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Why are people so thick about these "updates".

    An old Galaxy S5 doesn't work any worse today than a new Galaxy S7 or S9. Sure the latter ones take better pictures and have inductive charging build in. Which is the only optional feature on that phone that you can get separate and therefore it's cheaper in its basic package. The better camera's are courtesy of improved technology. And could theoretically be implied on that phone as well.

    The new IU's look horrible and wastes more battery due to an overabundance of white. And despite the supposedly important "security" upgrades I've never seen anyone's phone been tampered with or being broken. My dad still uses an ancient Xperia Z1 compact, I've got friends still using their Galaxy S5 and S4. No problems whatsoever. Then there's the usual hand-me-downs that I see all around me. These guys don't even know about OS-upgrades or security upgrades. In fact I've kept my own Honor 8 at Android 6 combined with Nova Classic launcher and definitely don't feel the need or see the necessity to upgrade to Nougat/EMUI8.0

    It's only the nerds and geeks that complain about "support". Which is odd since they are the ones whom buy a new phone every year.

  16. huh by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    htc makes phones?

  17. HTC One MAX by hduff · · Score: 1

    When they release an updated version of this, I will return to HTC. That was the best damn phone I have ever had.

    --
    "I believe in Karma. That means I can do bad things to people all day long and I assume they deserve it." : Dogbert
  18. I was disappointed in my M8 by rickb928 · · Score: 1

    Just not much better than the M7 it replaced, and battery life sucked after two years. Replaceable batteries are just not important enough to drive design changes.

    My U11 us a genuine disappointment. Touch problems, needs rebooting regularly now to make some apps work, flaky WiFi login app, fragile glass. I'm not even bothering to get the glass replaced, word is they can't, no supply of parts. Two month waits ending with returns unrepaired.

    I have purchased my last HTC phone, breaking the string that went from the G1 to the Sensation 4G, M7, M8, and now the underwhelming U11. No idea what I will buy next...

    --
    deleting the extra space after periods so i can stay relevant, yeah.
  19. Re:Perhaps they should update their phones softwar by dstyle5 · · Score: 1

    Yes, nerds and geeks do complain about "support" because we know that having insecure devices/operating systems is what leads to you getting pwned. Your friends say they have no problems, but how do they know if their devices have malware on them? Oh that's right, they don't.

    I would never do anything like banking on my phone as it just isn't worth the risk. Some malware could silently be logging your info, login credentials, etc then one day oops, your bank account is empty. Yup, sure was worth using that insecure phone from 5 years ago. That being said Android-based phone companies should support phones longer than 2 years, or 6 months in HTC's case. At least Google upped their supported releases to 3 years last year.