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HTC may be the next manufacturer to begin producing smartphones with CPUs developed in-house, according to China Times. The news house is reporting a deal between the Taiwanese mobile maker and ST-Ericsson that will see the development of a processor platform for low-end handsets. Smartphones with the new chip are expected to begin shipping next year.
The use of in-house CPU components is an emerging trend in mobile as companies look to widen profit margins while maintaining greater control over supply chain and hardware. The likes of Samsung, Huawei, and Apple already offer devices utilizing in-house designs. HTC may also be looking to distance itself from long-time partner Qualcomm. The manufacturer recently launched its first phone with NVIDIA’s Tegra 3 platform.
[via UnwiredView]
sounds like a bad idea. Economy underpowered CPUs do nothing to help out HTC’s brand. If the handsets are a flop, it looks bad on HTC. I wish companies like this would focus on better hardware and design instead of trying to find a price point for everyone. You’re diluting your brand, the Android experience and the community as a whole.
Did you read at all? It said low-end smart phone not their flag ship.
Well they need to learn to separate their brands, and give them totally different names. If they name it One Q, and that One Q sucks compared to One X, then yes it will reflect badly on their One X flagship.
In fact even One V was reviewed from the point of view of being a poor-man’s One X. They shouldn’t mix them up like that. Samsung is doing it, too, with Galaxy.
They keep doing it because they think they have “leverage”, but launching poor products under the name of your best products just so you can “milk” the brand for all its worth, is a really poor long term strategy, and that’s exactly what they end up doing – milk it until there’s nothing left and the brand means nothing of worth anymore a few years later.
Hopefully it’s Cortex A7-based. I’m getting sick and tired of seeing ARM11 at the low-end, which is based on a 10 year old architecture.