HTC Corp (宏達電) yesterday unveiled the first made-in-Taiwan 5G smartphone and is to begin taking preorders on July 1.
The company last year released two mid-range smartphones — the HTC U19e and HTC Desire 19+ — as well as a second-generation blockchain mobile phone — the HTC Exodus 1S — which failed to help prop up its flagging sales.
The new HTC U20 5G, powered by Qualcomm Inc’s Snapdragon 765G processor and equipped with five camera lenses, is priced at NT$18,990.
Photo: CNA
While not the cheapest option on the market, the company’s new offering is still aimed at entry to mid-range consumers “who would like to try out 5G technology without breaking the bank,” HTC Taiwan president Darren Chen (陳柏諭) told a news conference at the company’s headquarters in New Taipei City.
The smartphone, which was assembled at HTC’s Taoyuan plant, is the “first made-in-Taiwan 5G smartphone in the world,” he added.
The handset is outfitted with a 6.8-inch full high-definition display and comes in two colors: green and white.
Photo: Wang Yi-hung, Taipei Times
It is expected to be ready to ship by August, Chen said, adding that certain certificates for the device are still awaited.
Seeking to first test the local market, HTC has yet to announce a release a date for the device in overseas markets.
“We are waiting to see how Taiwanese consumers react before expanding to a larger user base,” HTC chief executive officer Yves Maitre said, while hinting that he is looking to negotiate with some “familiar” European mobile phone carriers.
Prior to taking up his position at HTC late last year, Maitre served at French telecom Orange SA as executive vice president of consumer equipment and partnerships.
Maitre refrained from providing a sales target for the HTC U20 5G.
HTC also released an update to its Desire smartphone series, which was launched in 2010.
Priced at NT$8,990, the new HTC Desire 20 Pro is a more affordable option than the HTC U20 5G.
Powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 665 processor, the HTC Desire 20 Pro is equipped with a 6.5-inch full high-definition screen and is also outfitted with five camera lenses.
The smartphone, which is not assembled in Taiwan, would be ready to ship tomorrow, the company said.
FIVE NEW FABS: An acquisition of Siltronic would boost GlobalWafers’ market share from 17 to 30 percent, easily surpassing Japanese rival Sumco’s 25 percent GlobalWafers Inc (環球晶圓) yesterday said it is in final talks to acquire Germany-based Siltronic AG in a 3.75 billion euro (US$4.5 billion) deal, which might help it compete with its closest rival Sumco Corp of Japan. The acquisition would be the fifth for GlobalWafers since 2008, as it has grown to become the world’s No. 3 supplier of silicon wafers through such deals. GlobalWafers, which has a 17 percent market share, would see its market position greatly elevated to 30 percent when combined with Siltronic’s 13 percent, according to a presentation Siltronic gave to its investors at a quarterly conference in August. Sumco
CONCERNS: The bank would act if it noticed currency speculation, the governor said, but he did not comment on a likely trajectory of the NT dollar against the greenback The central bank would intervene in the market whenever necessary to help stabilize the New Taiwan dollar, central bank Governor Yang Chin-long (楊金龍) said yesterday, adding that it is concerned Taiwan might be placed on the US watchlist for currency manipulation. The Control Yuan recently sent letter inquiring about the central bank’s market regulation efforts, Yang told a meeting of the legislature’s Finance Committee on the NT dollar’s appreciation and property price hikes. “It is the central bank’s top responsibility to stabilize foreign exchanges,” he said. The central bank has often stepped in toward the end of trading sessions to moderate the NT
Qualcomm Inc expects global shipments of 5G smartphones to more than double to between 450 million and 550 million units next year from this year, driven by increasing 5G network deployment worldwide and broader adoption of 5G technology beyond smartphones, a company executive told a virtual news conference yesterday. The San Diego-based company said that more than five times more telecoms have commercially launched 5G services in the first 18 months of the 5G era, compared with wireless technology transitions to previous generations. The momentum is to pick up speed in 2022, with the shipment volume of 5G-ready smartphones projected to reach
A Chinese factory owned by South Korean semiconductor giant SK Hynix Inc yesterday halted operations after a plant worker was found to have an asymptomatic infection of COVID-19, Xinhua news agency reported. The South Korean worker based at the plant in Chongqing since February had departed on Thursday for South Korea, Xinhua reported. He was tested at Incheon Airport in Seoul and confirmed positive for COVID-19 on Saturday, it reported. All factory staff as well as staff and recent guests at the hotel where the worker lived have been isolated and given nucleic acid tests, the agency said. “We’re cooperating with the local government
RSS