By 
Reading the headlines these past few months, you’ve no doubt heard talk of HTC landing on tough times. Losing their market share to Samsung, they’ve been forced to come up with new ways of reinventing themselves. We seen some of that with their more focused device releases which launched their “One” line of devices. Met with mixed fanfare, the One series wasn’t quite the golden ticket HTC had hoped for in 2012, but they’re not stopping there.
Today HTC has announced a new chief marketing officer, Benjamin Ho, to replace current chief John Wang. With CEO Peter Chou’s help, Ho will lead HTC into its “next phase of brand marketing and awareness,” transforming the company into a household name with their all new “Marketing 2.0,” as it’s being called internally. Peter Chou said in a statement:
“We welcome Benjamin to HTC and look forward to integrating the global marketing capabilities he brings to the company. Our growing brand, centered around our world-class innovation and design capabilities, will provide a global platform not just for HTC, but for Taiwan culture and innovation.”
While we can only speculate what this will mean for HTC and their future. It’s clear their “quietly brilliant” slogan may be in need of a refresh. Especially when rival Samsung has been anything but quiet, targeting Apple with a marketing blitz of print ads and tv spots. HTC, if you’re listening. Just make an ad to a dubstep soundtrack. The kids love dubstep. Oh, and make sure you’re chosen again for the next Nexus. Thanks.
[via TaipeiTimes]
HTC just doesn’t seem to get it.
Make a product that people want & they’ll buy it, instead of wasting your resources on marketing products that just don’t measure up.
Not sure what you mean, but HTC makes products I want. They’re sexy, powerful, and have great displays and cameras. What else do you want?
All they need now is to release more device on T-Mobile. Or release the DNA on someone other than Verizon so I can pounce on it.
Once they get RAZR MAXX-esque battery life, I’ll give them a look. Until then, any phone, regardless of manufacturer, w/a sealed/ non-removable battery is a no-go.
^^^ this
Great, you know who doesn’t care about a need that specific? HTC, they don’t need to get into the “this battery lasts longer than anyone with access to a charger every 16 hours” game because it doesn’t have a substantial market-share.
I have the original EVO. I declined to upgrade when the EVOLTE came out. I love everything about the phone, except for the non-removable battery. So they absolutely lost sales with their recent decision. Either put in a superior battery, or let me swap it. I swap out batteries all the time. I have 2 extras.
I’m in somewhat of an indecision spiral right now because of the EVOLTE. I waited too long and didn’t want to get an already somewhat old Galaxy SIII. So I’m waiting. When the S4 comes out… if HTC doesn’t have an EVO successor at Sprint that meets my battery life specs, they will have lost another sale to Samsung.
You’re kidding,right? In an ever-increasing demand for wireless connectivity,long battery life is essential,unless one’s day consists of hibernating in grandma’s basement playing video games to no end……
argument made no sense. You’re relying on battery life as your only argument. Pitiful.
Pitiful? Of course there’s other factors that make for a great phone. Are you the one so pitiful that you need it spoon-fed to you?
Where’s a fly swatter when you need one………….
sdCard and removable battery.
Why an sdCard? Because cell service in this country really does suck. I can run 10 miles before streaming 1 song from gMusic – and I live 2 miles from the NJ turnpike. If i can’t stream it, it better be local.
I don’t need a removable battery _today_, but 19 months from now..? I don’t know. Not having options is a bad thing.
You have options. Buy another HTC phone that has a removable battery. As seen with the iphone, millions of people could care less about SD cards and removable batteries. It’s a fact. I could care less about the battery myself and I have one that I can remove, but never have. My SD card has never filled up. But that’s me… and again, the millions of people who don’t care about it.
I’m sorry but if everyone whining about wanting more options were to see a phone with all of those options, no one would buy it. Micro USB, full USB, mini HDMI, microSD, SD, Large screen, small screen, removable battery and a non-removable battery, and a pentile with a non-pentile display function, 1080p rez while switch to 720p for those that think 1080p is a joke… you see how crappy a phone can get when its loaded with options. Everyone has an opinion on options.. thank god companies don’t follow through with those.
We’re not talking about ‘another’ phone. We’re talking about what is missing in HTC’s “Next big thing”. Obviously I (and others) have options to buy a different phone. And most people did. They bought non-HTC phones.
The best selling phone has a removable battery AND an sdCard slot. I believe its name was “S3”
As far as your luck with your battery and space. Fantastic. I hope that battery lasts. Because if it doesn’t…When my battery no longer holds a charge, I buy at $15 replacement. You will either buy a new phone (very expensive; not the option of millions of people) or deal with an insurance company that insists your phone does ‘work’ and they are not liable for funding a replacement.
HTC does have the best screens. They do have fantastic hardware specs. The camera is fantastic. But people don’t buy. Marketing. Yeah, maybe. But having a whole slice of the phone buying public who won’t consider HTC bc of 2 things that can be fixed..? I’d start fixing the company right there..
The problem with HTC is that they have lost their customers. A former HTC user is not a iPhone user now. The needs are not the same. Most HTC customers switched to Samsung and not to iPhone, so they should copy Samsung and not Apple…
If you are not going to provide a removable battery, then provide a phone that last all day with 1 charge (HTC is known for bad battery life). If you are not going to provide a mSD slot, provide 32 and 64GB options. The policies about locking the phones and not being dev friendly are also a problem (They use to be dev friendly). Less people buy a phone that is bashed on most sites, even if they are not going to root the phone, most people like options.
They need to stop listening to the carriers and start listening to the customers.
Razor Maxx battery size if you’re going to make it non removable , sd slot, and yes I know majority don’t care but a little more dev friendly. HTC deving is aggravating on the newest ones. I do think most of them are sexy though. They could just do what Sammy did and put the same phone on all carriers without features being missing. It’s annoying when you have to consider another carrier because a feature is exclusive and you think you may chance it. If tmobile had the HTC dna with a sd slot I would probably leave Big Red.
actually the problem is their marketing is horrible. apple and samsung are killing it with marketing which is why they’re at the top.
HTC makes great phones. I think they just need to get rid of sense and bring back expandable storage and removable batteries.
Or they could just make what people what, try that. Their phones are good, but not great. I don’t want sense. I demand an SD card slot and want a removable battery that is substantially large. Switch from LCD to led screens. Their build quality has always been better than Samsung and their cheap creeky plastic. (My last 2 phones have been Samsung. I would rather purchased HTC but they didn’t have the features or the phones were exclusives.)
The same could be said about any Android manufacturer. Are you saying people don’t want Sense but they want TouchWiz? Or LG’s UI?
HTC’s SLCD3 display is quite frankly the best in the business. Nothing compares to it. And don’t be surprised if Samsung moves away from removable batteries and micro SD cards in the Galaxy S4.
I don’t like any skins. If manufacturers want to add features, make them downloadable from the play store and make them only accessible if you purchased that brand (ie only Samsung phones could download s voice but don’t preload it.)
In a perfect world that’d happen, but Android was created so that anyone, anywhere can download the code and transform the OS into their own.
Plus, carriers demand differentiation. They don’t want stock Android. The majority of consumers don’t want stock Android (or don’t know any better). If you were CEO of HTC or Samsung, you’d create your own skinned version of Android too. You’d have to if you wanted to create your own brand.
You can actually download third party skins, and some actually make Sense UI look like stock android..
Example #1:
https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.virtuous.skin.hololighthd&feature=search_result#?t=W251bGwsMSwxLDEsImNvbS52aXJ0dW91cy5za2luLmhvbG9saWdodGhkIl0.
If you know a little about android development, you can make your own skins
Yup! I’ve managed to convert most of my OEM skinned apps into stock Android with 3rd party apps.
If you ask me, it’s GOOGLE’S responsibility to include their stock Android apps (launcher included) in the Play Store. Boom. Problem solved.
Do you realize how great it will be if Google can make their launcher into an app and have it in the Play Store? Even if I gotta pay for it…take my money Google!
That’s not going to happen, not on a device like that. Samsung knows it’s users, why do you think they’re the top Android phone manufacture?
If they move away from sd cards and removable batteries I’m sure they’ll include more than 16gb on board storage and maybe take a cue from the Maxx.
This doesn’t make sense…
HTC makes beast phones, but the popularity of their phones isn’t on par as to Samsung’s. If you don’t want Sense (which is a personal opinion b/c I think Sense, apart from stock UI, is the best), then the Nexus is for you.
Want an SD card? I know most of their phones don’t come with an SD Card, but the Evo LTE has one. Besides, I don’t understand why people want more than the 16/32 Gbs provided in HTC’s phones… No real reason why you must put your whole life into your phone.
Here’s the thing with removable batteries… They will be non-existent by the end of 2013. Here’s why: as manufacturers try to make their phones thin as possible, they opt out the removable battery to save space. However, I do wish HTC put bigger batteries on their devices…
Switch to a different type of screen? HTC makes the one of the greatest screens for a phone, even to this day. Sure, maybe the switch from LCD to LED would save battery, but their screens right now are perfect as it stands.
I don’t really get why HTC still does have exclusive products for different carriers: it hurts their profits… Maybe they’ll realize that and try to get out of any BS contract they have with carriers that forces them to have exclusive devices (Except for Sprint’s Evo line, they have done a good job with that)
I agree with most everything you said. But I think the reason HTC goes with exclusives is because Verizon or others wont buy their phone if the same one is already available for a rival carrier. If releasing phones on all carriers was in their control, or profitable, they’d be doing it already.
That’s true, but why is it a different story for the Galaxy S3? I’m sure if all the carriers had the One X/X+, HTC and carriers alike would see a major profit.
If I was, for example, with T-Mobile, I wouldn’t get the One S because it’s inferior to the One X. If all carriers carried the same phone, then the customer has to decide on which carrier to go for and which carrier has more bang for their buck.
I think Verizon is afraid that their customers would switch because of their jacked up prices and if the other leading carrier carries the same phone as them.. :P
Samsung’s different cuz they’ve finally reached the big time. The Galaxy S3 was super hyped and Samsung made it known around the world it was the better alternative to the iPhone. Seems they convinced everyone — even the carriers.
But USUALLY when it comes to carriers, it’s a lot like Android blogs. You’ll see some sites purposely not post exclusives from rival blogs, even if it’s super big news. Picture that, with phones now :p
Yeah you’re right… the S3 is viewed as direct competition to the iPhone.
Maybe with HTC’s new marketing chief, they will also hype up their next line of phones and hopefully make it big like Samsung in the future… but HTC still has a long ways to go before that can happen.
They need Don King. He’d be great for HTC…
Lmao… He’ll be great for any manufacturer
I agree that out of the custom UIs Sense is the best. When it comes to storage though 64GB is quickly becoming necessary for power users. Quality games are now several GBs, app+app data backups take up many many GBs, and ROM sizes are becoming increasingly bigger making Nandriods huge. With all of that stuff 16GB is gone in no time, and 32 will disappear when you add some music, movies/TV Shows, and pictures in to the mix. It’s really pretty easy to eat up 32GB without having your “whole life” on your phone. Also, the LCD displays HTC uses are amazing and are only getting better. OLED is nice and I really enjoy the one on my S3 but now that SLCD3 is catching up in brightness and vibrance the more natural color appearance makes it the winner over OLED all day.
Regarding the removable battery going the way of the dinosaurs: I think you are right, and that’s ridiculous. My Galaxy Nexus’ charging port JUST went bad two nights ago. I’m getting a new phone in about a month, so instead of sending this one to Samsung for two weeks, I’m just going to be using replacements and swapping them out. Not an easy thing to do with a sealed battery. And this is a problem that anyone could have, it doesn’t even cover the need for removable batteries for people who hack their devices.
Sad.
Thankfully, I never had an issue like that before, and I had a HTC Hero for 3 years, all modded up and overclocked with stock battery…
I see where you’re coming from, and hopefully manufacturers will make higher quality phones that’ll last more than 2 years
You’re right. I agree with everything you mentioned. I had the htc hero, htc evo and then htc evo 3d. But to tell you the truth I wasn’t thrilled with the evo 4g lte. The specs where amazing but I wasn’t a big fan of the design. To be completely honest if they had the htc one X or X+ on sprint I would have upgraded. But instead I went with the iPhone. Yes I know I converted. I always hated Samsung, Motorola made crap and htc was always my favorite but I kind of got sick of them. Htc sense is by far better then stock. And if you really don’t like it then root it. (Not you. The other guy). But I am always on the lookout for the next htc phone so I might go back if they really blow me away next year.
I have to disagree about switching from LCD to LED. LED’s only strength is deep blacks, everything else is over saturated and ugly. Horrible color reproduction, ugly blue tinted whites, etc. LCD is superior. Then again, I guess it’s just personal preference.
Well, I don’t know if you’ve seen this feature on the Galaxy Note 2, but it eliminates one of your arguments (allows you to control saturation) :p
http://i.imgur.com/oOBlZ.png
SD card and removable battery are the main reasons I bought the S3.
Why haven’t manufacturer’s realized that the nexus model is the way to go. Maybe Google only officially makes 1 nexus phone a year. There is nothing stopping HTC and Samsung from making flagship phones with penta band radios, unlocked with no skin. Sell them directly from their websites. F carriers!
Carriers are the real buyers though. They’re the ones making OEM’s successful, not consumers. Most people in the world don’t have the money to fork down $600 a smartphone, that’s why carriers entice them with low prices and lock ’em down with contracts.
I realize that but there is a market for selling directly to customers, you purchased 2 nexus 4s. It will take a while but the model works throughout Europe. We (Americans) are used to getting phones on the cheap from carriers.
Trust me — I wouldn’t have purchased even ONE Nexus 4 if it wasn’t subsidized by Google. If it was $500 or $600, I would just wait another year and save up my pennies.
But yeah, I agree. It’s hard to wing Americans off of cheap phones and expensive contracts. I think that’s why the country is in such bad shape. It’s the whole, “buy big, put it on credit” mentality.
Next Nexus will probably be LG again… G1–>HTC: Nexus One–>HTC: Nexus S–>Samsung: Galaxy Nexus–> Samsung: Nexus 4–>LG: Nexus 5?–>LG? I know the G1 is not technically a nexus device, but it’s a Google phone nonetheless. I’ll be willing to bet a it will be LG again… I mean, it’s kind of obvious… : )
Interesting….. theory. Kinda makes sense. I still think it’s too early to pin Google down to a pattern just yet. They’re still super unpredictable.
True. But it stands to reason they’d give LG another shot like they did Samsung, especially with the overwhelmingly positive response to this one.
Hopefully LTE/CDMA radios will be present in the new Nexus…
Let the next Nexus rumors begin!
Serious. I wouldn’t be surprised if we see a Nexus 4S with LTE and 32GB of storage in 6 months :p
Lol, that will probably happen
My response wasn’t that positive. O_o
I’m speaking about the collective response of the consumers crashing the play store.
Just giving you a hard time. I’m the only dummy that didn’t really like the phone :p
Well, we can be dummys together then because I didn’t care for it either.
*awkwardly long embrace*
Seriously, your recent review is probably a good barometer of a large share of ANDROID users. GOOGLE & LG again have missed the mark on the NEXUS 4.At $300-$350,this phone should have been mass-produced in quantities to avoid shortages. Why else would quantities be so limited as to wait 3-4 weeks+ for delivery. A phone @ any price is not a bargain if it lacks features that people want.
HTC has nice phones w/great features, but, limited storage & battery life are deal-breakers, plain & simple.
Change is a god thing.! Hope for the best!!
God has nothing to do with it…
I think OP meant good…
I know. I’m kind of a smart ass ; )
Start releasing your top of the line devices on all of the major us carriers.
Bring the droid dna to att tomorrow with a micro sd card slot, which is what the one x plus should have been, and I’ll buy 2 in a heartbeat. I can deal without the sd card slot if you put in a minimum of 32gb.
Don’t copy Samsung but follow their lead and you will again become a giant in the mobile industry. I for one am pulling for you.
But it’s not up to HTC. They have to sell their devices to the carriers.
Like I said in another comment, if HTC could release a the One X across all carriers at the same time, don’t you think they would have done it, right?
The thing is carriers are fiercely competitive. They don’t want a phone released for a rival carrier, unless the manufacturer has proven themselves desirable (like Samsung or Apple).
That’s why they needed to market a nexus like product directly to customers. They will have to be willing to pay
@supremekizzle I meant change is a good thing. Sorry about that
See below…
OKAY, instead of just dumping on HTC, I have a new marketing strategy to offer:
“Not only are our phones thin, they’re ultra-thin,some may even say paper-thin….. because we’ve removed the battery altogether to multi-task as TP after a single use…….. ” :D
Seriously HTC, it’s apparent the SD Card & removable batteries will be a relic within a couple of years (as stated by others here).
Make a phone w/battery life long enough to make it through a work day+commute & a couple of hours to spare & I’ll take one, with or without a carrier subsidy.
Relics…um no.
Yes I agree that to truly succeed HTC will have to become household name again, I am a long time HTC user. Ever since the Shadow I have used nothing but HTC phones and I have watched their rise and fall with frustration.
It’s especially frustrating for me to be on T-Mobile and see these HTC super phones get taken by other carriers, Samsung managed to put their best phones on all carriers so HTC has to make themselves as cool and hip as Samsung. My girlfriend has a S3 and people recognize it all the time, you don’t see that same view with any HTC.
They need to stop bring do nice and hit Apple too, show why HTC And Sense are much better than the iPhone and iOS. Controversy gets people talking and gets them wondering what is this HTC phone about and why can’t my phone do that.
If they get bigger batteries and release their top tier phones on all carriers at once then think they’ll be good to go.. at least for the most part.
SD cards and removable battery are definitely not relics, despite the iSheep crowd mentality.
As cameras get better and photos / videos become larger, you are going to need that storage space. Games and apps will also get bigger, you will need every bit of space you can get.
Removable batteries are the way to keep the device usable, lest you get iPhones that die after a couple of years and are worthless. Wake up sheeple.
I like having SD Cards & removable batteries as much as the next person. Perhaps the word RELIC was a bit strong/wrong, but, as more & more phones are choosing this path, SAMSUNG & other manufacturers who are still using them will probably go down this path as well, sooner or later, whether we like it or not.
I’m OK w/it, as long as on-board storage & battery life are acceptable.
If HTC wanted a bigger market they just need to do what samsung is doing. They need to find a way to make a slim phone like the gs3 with a removable battery and microsd card slot, and then put it on all carriers with no custom models. Instead they released an awesome phone, but with limited storage, no removable battery, and made it thicker than most all phones out, while not managing a bigger battery at all. I’m not saying the average consumer demands a removable battery, or a microsd card slot. However I am saying that not including it blocks off a part of the consumer base, which influences the decisions of many average consumers, and in no way would having the option for extra storage or a user replaceable battery harm a phone’s sellability to the average consumer.
It’s actually pretty simple, never lock or encrypt a bootloader ever again, include a microsd slot, make the battery removable and capitalize on unique features like their metal build and FM Radio Support.
HTC, you’re not Apple, stop trying to be them! You can’t design a product that only you like and expect people to buy it by the millions.
Non-removable battery? FAIL!
No SD card? FAIL!
Beats Audio? FAIL!
leave the first two to the iDiots
have you heard of Google’s Nexus 4 my brother?
Yeah, an LG device…
should read
HTC appoints new marketing chief to help with LACK OF brand recognition
After my experience w/ the Thunderbolt I will never but a HTC phone again!!!
Your apple comment about people not caring about storage is wrong because they give people options for storage capacity 16-32-64, and it’ll probably be 32-64-128 soon, 11gb isn’t adequate, fine don’t give us sd storage, but at least put enough memory to where we won’t care, for now sd storage on an HTC phone is a must because they don’t give you larger storage options, sorry but some of us actually use the multimedia functions of our phones, while I don’t think really do, otherwise you would run into storage problems, hd video recordings, pictures, movies, music, games… Try really using your phone to the fullest with 11gb of storage… Very difficult with that amount
Ho Ho Ho
It’s soo easy to solve.
Make the Flagship One Series The X Series. (HTC One X, Two X, Three X…ect ect.)
Same Flagship phones on all carriers SAME OPTIONS.
either bring to the table 32/64 GB options or add Micro SD
Battery, just make it a removable battery and wireless charging.
Make the Nexus next year. HTC Nexus X
Bring a Tablet to the 7″ and 10″ Market-brand it as HTC One X 7″ or 10″ and make it a competitor. Have SD slots, MHL, wireless charging that works!
Best everyone to the market with updates!
Streamline your products to a handful and market the help out of it. Compare to Apple and Sammy in the commercial.
HTC fails at marketing. There are HTC phones just as good as the SGSIII and the IPhone 5. Once they figure out how to relay that to the public, they will start getting sales like Samsung and Apple.
If HTC thinks they can market their way out of the gutter they’re doomed. And with a guy from Moto? If they’re aspiring to match Moto’s financials I think they’re well on their way already.
What they need to do is start building devices that people want. Samsung is killing them on features. Most notably removable batteries and expandable storage.
hTC does have crappy marketing strategy against other competitors. I wish this Benjamin guy can improve hTC’s image and exposure!
Well here’s one customer that made a choice. Last month I had an upgrade available and had plans on getting the gs3. After spends his some time with my brothers on sprint, saw that it could handle all the games and task I threw at it, I was sold. I shopped around for the best price and at the time found staples had it for a pretty good deal. So the time came and I took one more look around and noticed the amaze. It to was on sale so I gave it a try as well as the one s, also on sale but after 2min with the one s I was not wowed at all, very underwhelmed. When I held the amaze I was digging the feel and weight of it. I loved the screen, as so more than the sg3. The dedicated camera and camcorder buttons were great additions. The phone was very fast and had ics which allows me to disable tmo apps that I didn’t want. After some quick research on my ( still awesome) nexus one, the only problem most people had from reviews were the battery life, not a bad trade off for 4g, 42mbs. With the option of sdcard and removable battery. I choice the amaze and don’t regret my purchase one bit. I ordered a 1900mah battery from amazon for 20 bucks and I now go through a whole day with a single charge and just in case always have a spare. So I guess it’s just what fits you in the end. I’m cool with last year’s technology as long as it does what I need and does it well, which it does without any problems. And my sweet spot for screen size is 4’3 and I have big hands. The sg3 was a little hard on your hand if just trying to use one for a period of time.
Marketing is not their problem – their problem is locked down devices and a failure to follow through with delivering on any of their promises. Try actually being the company you say you are. That always works. If you lie to your customers, they will find out, and then they won’t be your customers anymore.