HTC Corp (宏達電) yesterday unveiled an updated version of its flagship One X smartphone, but a local analyst said the Taiwanese handset maker might fail in its attempt to extend the life cycle of the One series.
Jeff Pu (蒲得宇), an equity research analyst at Taipei-based Fubon Securities (富邦證券), said the new HTC One X+ is unlikely to help extend the lifespan of the One family handset because its hardware specifications are seen as insufficiently attractive.
“Some features that consumers care about, such as camera and display resolution functions, have not been sufficiently improved on this product,” Pu said. “As an extended model of the One series, which is close to the end of its life cycle, I don’t think this strategy will be successful.”
The HTC One X+ is to be available in Europe and North Asia starting this month and in South Asia starting next month, the company said in a statement.
The smartphone maker is tomake a separate announcement regarding availability of the device in North America.
Featuring a 1.7GHz quad-core processor from Nvidia Corp and the new HTC Sense 4+ user interface, the 4.7-inch One X+ offers increased performance, longer battery life and expanded internal storage compared with earlier models, the company said in a statement.
O2, the leading provider of mobile phones and broadband deals in the UK, said on its Web site that an HTC One X+ with 64 gigabytes of memory is soon to be released at a unit price of ￡479.99 (about NT$22,740).
Amid the One X+’s imminent launch, the One X model was available for US$19.99 on Amazon.com at an 80 percent discount.
HTC partners with telecom carrier AT&T in marketing One X in the US. They have twice cut One X retail prices on the market to stimulate sales.
Shares in HTC closed up 1.55 percent at NT$295 as investors took advantage of the stock’s recent slump to do some bargain hunting.
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