HTC Hero Selling Like Hotcakes
There is no doubt that Android enthusiasts love the HTC Hero. And while HTC manufactured the phone in hopes it would be loved, I’m not sure they anticipated it would be loved THIS much. According to DigiTimes, European and Asian markets are having a hard time keeping supply of the HTC Hero up to pace with demand:
The tight production will not be eased until November and the sales momentum of HTC Hero is expected to continue in the first quarter of 2010, Tong asserted.
That’s Jack Tong, VP of Asia Pacific at HTC, talking about “tight production”. So the HTC Hero is selling absolutely amazingly yet the company posted an 18% decline in profits for 3rd Quarter 2009. Why? Because Windows Mobile sucks and unfortunately HTC is the largest manufacturer of those unfortunate devices.
HTC has also incurred a lot of expenses in marketing their Android Phones but I’m really glad to see their efforts are paying off. They deserve praise for being first to the market with Android (Dream/G1). Oh yeah… and 2nd to the market with Android (Magic/MyTouch). And wait a minute… basically also 3rd to the market with Android (Hero). And it isn’t like these phones were rushed. They all are great devices with huge customer bases. And I should add… HAPPY customer bases who are still enjoying the product a year after their release.
HTC got a huge head start but by no means have “won” the race. They’ve got newfound pressure for Motorola, Samsung and others going into the holiday season. The Android “lead” won’t be determined for some time as Tong himself admits:
It will probably have to wait until the second half of 2010 to see who has actually won the market, Tong argued.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see HTC winning this race in that time frame. And even if they aren’t… they’ll undoubtedly be at the front of the pack.