HTC Corp (宏達電), the world’s No. 5 smartphone brand, plans to expand its retail stores in China to between 3,000 and 4,000, from the current 2,000, by the end of this year in view of China’s strong demand for its smartphones, a company official said yesterday.
These HTC concept stores will be launched in eastern and western China, covering first-tier cities — such as Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou — and major second-tier and third-tier cities, such as Nanjing, the company said.
“We hope to offer premium services and make sure customers have a high-quality experience when walking into HTC-managed concept stores,” HTC North Asia-Pacific region president Jack Tong (董俊良) told a media briefing after the company officially launched its first “One” series smartphone model in Taipei.
Photo: AFP
The “HTC One X” model — which is scheduled to be released in Taiwan on Monday — will be the company’s global flagship smartphone this year and should help its revenues rebound, starting from the second quarter, Tong said.
The model will be launched in all major markets worldwide, one after another, starting next month.
“From my observation, the momentum of HTC One X brings to mind the legendary sales momentum of the ‘HTC Desire,’ the company’s flagship smartphone in 2010,” Tong said.
HTC Desire, which was launched in May 2010, helped company shipments grow by 63.1 percent in the second quarter of that year from the previous quarter, with HTC’s market share increasing to 8 percent from 5.3 percent, researcher iSuppli Corp said in a report in October 2010.
Using its experience of the HTC Desire series, Tong said the company would initiate a series of marketing strategies to promote the HTC One, and would introduce two more HTC One series smartphone products — HTC One S and HTC One V.
HTC One X, which has been available for pre-sale in Taiwan since Tuesday last week, had attracted about 50,000 unit orders as of yesterday, Tong said.
The One series, with a uni-body design and HTC Sense 4.0 software, provides better camera functions and audio quality, the company said in a statement.
In order to offer a higher-quality environment for customers to experience the model’s functions, the company will construct a special experience zone in at least 100 retail stores in Taiwan, Tong said.
These retailers will include the company’s self-collaborated channels, as well as channels under the nation’s three major telecommunications operators — Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) and Far Eas-Tone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信), HTC said.
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