A blogger has claimed that Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC Corp (宏達電) was preparing to launch a smartwatch that can make phone calls.
“HTC fans, you’ll finally have One watch to call your own come February,” wrote Evan Blass, a blogger known for leaking information on tech gadgets, in a post on Thursday on the Twitter page of evleaks.
Blass did not reveal any other information about the rumored watch, which would be another wearable device said to be under development by the smartphone marker.
Photo: CNA, courtesy of the Executive Yuan
The blogger posted information about a possible HTC watch in July last year, but that claim is yet to become reality.
HTC unveiled the Grip fitness band, which was developed with US sports clothing and accessories supplier Under Armour Inc (UA) in March in Spain ahead of the Mobile World Congress show, but the product has not been launched commercially.
Earlier this week, several tech Web sites cited documents found on Bluetooth.org, and reported a possible upcoming product called the UA Scale, which is a connected scale created by HTC and UA.
Some speculated that it could replace the HTC Grip.
Last month, documents related to an HTC smartband codenamed “2PPN” were found at the Web site of the US Federal Communications Commission, which determines if an electronic device meets technical standards, but it was not clear if the documents were for the HTC Grip or the UA Scale.
HTC is seeking to venture into new products as its core smartphone business has struggled amid intense competition and a maturation of the global smartphone market, which has led to slower industry-wide growth.
The company’s sales maintained growth momentum last month, with consolidated revenue increasing 14.96 percent to NT$10.29 billion from October, compared with a month-on-month rise of 26.05 percent in the previous month, company data showed yesterday.
Market watchers said the results showed that the firm retained sales momentum in its flagship One A9 and mid-tier Desire series.
However, on an annual basis, revenue remained contracting by 39.25 percent last month, following the 43.2 percent yearly decline seen in the previous month, data showed.
Compared with the year-earlier levels, cumulative revenue for the first 11 months of the year decreased 33.32 percent to NT$115.17 billion (US$3.51 billion), according to the company’s filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
HTC shares rose 1.1 percent to close at NT$82.4 yesterday in Taipei trading, outperforming the TAIEX, which dropped 0.68 percent. Year-to-date shares have slid 41.97 percent, compared with the broader market’s 9.76 percent fall during the period.
Additional reporting by Kevin Chen
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