Smartphone vendor HTC Corp (宏達電) yesterday launched four new mid-end smartphone models to boost sales as demand for high-end smartphones stagnated.
“The smartphone market has come to a relatively mature stage where the product cycle is getting shorter than ever,” HTC Greater China region president Jack Tong (董俊良) told reporters on the sidelines of a product launch event.
To cope with this trend, “HTC needs to launch more products to cater to consumer needs,” Tong said.
Commenting on HTC’s competitor Xiaomi Corp (小米), which is set to sell its new Red Rice smartphone at a price of NT$3,999 next month, Tong said: “Every brand adopts a different business model and pricing strategy.”
Regarding HTC’s new products, Fubon Securities Co (富邦證券) analyst Ange Wu (吳淵傑) yesterday said by telephone that “HTC made a wise decision in selecting four processor suppliers.”
The four newly launched models are equipped with chips from Qualcomm Inc, Broadcom Corp, ST-Ericsson and Spreadtrum Communications Inc (展訊通信), showing that HTC was able to develop products on various platforms, but also proves the company’s awareness of risk control,” Wu said.
Commenting at Xiaomi’s offices, Wu said Xiaomi’s Red Rice smartphone is much more affordable to consumers, but it is still possible for HTC to increase its shares in the mid-tier smartphone market if the company continues collaborating with Chinese telecom operators.
Currently, HTC only partners with China’s largest telecom China Mobile Ltd (中國移動) to sell its One smartphone series.
The Taoyuan-based company is still in discussions with China Unicom Ltd (中國聯通) and China Telecom Corp Ltd (中國電信), China’s second and third-largest telecoms, to sell its mid-end products, Wu said.
HTC’s new smartphones carry price tags ranging from NT$7,900 to NT$13,900 and will hit the market next month.
Consumers can also get the smartphones at lower prices ranging from NT$990 to NT$4,990, bundling service packages from Taiwan’s three largest telecom Chunghwa Telecom Co (中華電信), Taiwan Mobile Co (台灣大哥大) and Far EasTone Telecommunications Co (遠傳電信).
Elon Musk’s lieutenants have reached out to chip industry suppliers, including Applied Materials Inc, Tokyo Electron Ltd and Lam Research Corp, for his envisioned Terafab, early steps in an audacious and likely arduous attempt to break into the production of cutting-edge chips. Staff working for the joint venture between Tesla Inc and Space Exploration Technologies Corp (SpaceX) have sought price quotes and delivery times for an array of chipmaking gear, people familiar with the matter said. In past weeks, they’ve contacted makers of photomasks, substrates, etchers, depositors, cleaning devices, testers and other tools, according to the people, who asked not to
The EU and US are nearing an agreement to coordinate on producing and securing critical minerals, part of a push to break reliance on Chinese supplies. The potential deal would create incentives, such as minimum prices, that could advantage non-Chinese suppliers, according to a draft of an “action plan” seen by Bloomberg. The EU and US would also cooperate on standards, investments and joint projects, as well as coordinate on any supply disruptions by countries like China. The two sides are additionally seeking other “like-minded partners” to join a multicountry accord to help create these new critical mineral supply chains, which feed into
Japan approved ￥631.5 billion (US$3.97 billion) in additional subsidies to hasten Rapidus Corp’s entry into the high-stakes artificial intelligence (AI) chipmaking arena, ramping up support for a project widely regarded as a long shot. The capital is intended to bankroll Rapidus’ work for information technology firm Fujitsu Ltd, one of the initial customers that Tokyo hopes would get the signature endeavor off the ground. The new money raises the fees and investments that the government is injecting into the start-up to ￥2.6 trillion by the end of the current fiscal year to March next year, the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and
The founder of Chinese property giant Evergrande Group (恆大集團) has pleaded guilty to charges of fraud and bribery, a court said yesterday, the latest blow for what was once the country’s leading developer. Evergrande’s rise was propelled by decades of rapid urbanization and rising living standards, but in 2020, its access to credit dramatically narrowed when the government introduced curbs on excessive borrowing and speculation. The company defaulted in 2021 after struggling to repay creditors. Founder Xu Jiayin (許家印), 67, known as Hui Ka Yan in Cantonese, was reportedly held by police in 2023, with Evergrande saying he had been subjected to
RSS