HTC in decline. Feb. revenue down 44%

[HeyCori]

HTC's February revenue down 44% year-over-year - Neowin

At least they managed to post a profit. However, their numbers keep shrinking every quarter. A couple more months of this and they will likely join the ranks of Sony, LG, Motorola and Nokia.

 

[Laura Knotek]

It's interesting to see that no vendors other than Samsung are successful in the Android market. A lot of people were saying that Nokia should sell Android devices, but I doubt if Nokia would do any better than HTC in the Android market.

 

[fatclue_98]

It's mind boggling to see companies being run into the ground due to mismanagement. Laura, you mention that Samsung is the only MFG that is successful with Android. Why do you think that is? Maybe because people are flocking to 5" screens with ink capabilities? Were you even aware that LG released the Intuition on Verizon last summer with a 5" screen and a stylus for note taking? Apparently, most of the US public have never heard of it either. I'm not picking on LG, but they did have one of the better WP7 phones and they let it fade into obscurity. You can pick up a brand new one on eBay for about $95. Look at Dell, they totally screwed the pooch on their mobile operations and the Venue Pro was a gorgeous phone. HTC needs a rainmaker right now, they need the second coming of the HD2. But most of all, they need a gimmick. You can't have a gimmick without forward-thinking management. Thus endeth the lesson.

 

[WavingReds]

It's interesting to see that no vendors other than Samsung are successful in the Android market. A lot of people were saying that Nokia should sell Android devices, but I doubt if Nokia would do any better than HTC in the Android market.

Yeah that would have been definitely the wrong move for Nokia if they went with Android. Poor HTC though can't catch a break at all =/. They should have put more effort into WP8

 

[MSFTisMIA]

Samsung always had the one thing that HTC never did...scale of production.

As someone has HTC as one of his top 4 favorite brands, I think a couple of things has killed their numbers:

1. They were too busy flooding the market with similar type hardware in their Android heyday in 2010. The smartest thing Samsung did was poured their efforts into ONE flagship line and you've got the Galaxy line. They made too many carrier exclusive models as a result.

2. Samsung took a page out of HTC's old school book and made their phones root friendly. This locking boot loader $%&# has wrecked many a relationship with devs.

3. They stopped making "balanced handsets". Non removable battery and fixed internal memory are real turnoffs. The materials used inspire a love it or hate it approach. Design is still good, but they haven't a mass hit design-wise in a while. Their phones are heavier and people are trending to light and powerful.

4. They've continued the tradition of not so great after sales support, especially in the form of updating the OS timely. Samsung doesn't win medals for this, but they put their updates out more.

5. They only make high end phones now. When you do that and your high end phone doesn't, you're screwed.

6. When the killer feature you use to market the phone is merely a really good feature, you turn people off. Outside of the screens, they haven't been dead on here in a while.

I hope they turn it around, as they can sell both Windows and Android well. They just need to shore up a few things and they will be just fine...

 

[MSFTisMIA]

It's mind boggling to see companies being run into the ground due to mismanagement. Laura, you mention that Samsung is the only MFG that is successful with Android. Why do you think that is? Maybe because people are flocking to 5" screens with ink capabilities? Were you even aware that LG released the Intuition on Verizon last summer with a 5" screen and a stylus for note taking? Apparently, most of the US public have never heard of it either. I'm not picking on LG, but they did have one of the better WP7 phones and they let it fade into obscurity. You can pick up a brand new one on eBay for about $95. Look at Dell, they totally screwed the pooch on their mobile operations and the Venue Pro was a gorgeous phone. HTC needs a rainmaker right now, they need the second coming of the HD2. But most of all, they need a gimmick. You can't have a gimmick without forward-thinking management. Thus endeth the lesson.

Agreed. They need a KILLER gimmick that works as advertised and really well.

 

[vormison]

I am sure their HTC One will help things.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

I am sure their HTC One will help things.

I hope so. I rather HTC compete with Nokia than MSFT get silly and feel they need to save WP8 and make a Surface Phone...

 

[WanderingTraveler]

HTC really needs to get the WP side of the equation some more help. Remember their extensive history with WinMo.

 

[Phone Guy 4567]

HTC's decline has very little to do with Android & has a lot to do with the lack of marketing compared to Samsung. Sony is in the same boat with Android because their hardware leaves a lot to be desired IMO. It always looks good but in terms of performance I don't think it's as good as what Samsung offers. The Xperia X10 was a great looking device but ran 1.6 when others were running 2.1, lacked multi touch, and had a really quiet earpiece so call volume was terrible. Their stuff may have improved since the X10 days but people already have a negative impression of them, which is hard to shake.

 

[AngryNil]

HTC can become Samsung, and an Android success story, in a few simple steps:

1. Going back to 2010
2. Making an iPhone copycat
3. Spending USD 10 billion on marketing per annum

 

[1101x10]

I think people go for brand names more than anything - iPhone, Galaxy...and it was clever of Nokia to create the Lumia brand.

 

[MSFTisMIA]

I think people go for brand names more than anything - iPhone, Galaxy...and it was clever of Nokia to create the Lumia brand.

See, HTC finally figured this out and went with the "One" line and we may not see the results until the end of the year. What they need to do is create another line like that for WP8 and port more of the Android tech as well.

 

[Ridemyscooter86]

yeah, its sad to see HTC go down as they made/ still make such great phones. I actually like the One x over the GS3, the thinness and build quality of it are great. As other people said, HTC just doesn't have the marketing. Samsung is great in this department, the have the GALAXY note, the GALAXY s3, the GALAXY tab, the GALAXY player, the GALAXY...etc, you get the point. if HTC stick with the ONE, they may do fine. As another person pointed out, the Lumia brand was a smart idea for nokia. Same with Surface for Microsoft. I think HTC really needs to get into tablets. I think they only one they tried to make was the flyer and was basically the precursor to the galaxy note, but it didn't do well. Reviews said it was pretty good too, but its like they didn't market it or something. I would love to see the day again when HTC was the bet competitor to the iphone.