HTC to pull its smartphone from the UK market
Due to a patent dispute issue, HTC could stop selling its smartphones in the UK. The issue at hand relates to the newer HTC Desire 12 which infringes on IPCom’s 100A patent which handles the prioritization of emergency calls over 3G networks. While HTC originally solved the patent case with IPCom way back in 2012 by issuing a workaround to its devices, the HTC Desire 12 somehow shipped with infringing software which caught the attention of IPCom.
Rather than fixing the issue with a software update or simply pulling the HTC Desire 12 from the UK market, IPCom’s press release claims that HTC is looking to pull all of its smartphones from the UK.
“Furthermore, HTC has signalled that it is taking steps to suspend sales of all its mobile devices in the U.K.”
It’s unclear why HTC has chosen to suspend sales of all of its smartphones in the UK, but it’s no secret that the company has struggled to remain competitive in the space over the past few years. It may simply to cheaper for HTC to close up shop rather than continue to push products which are clearly not resonating with consumers.
HTC has not released an official statement regarding this issue, but we’ll be sharing any additional details that come to light.
Source: Android Authority