HTC defeats Western market and expects China

HTC released the HTC One Max in Beijing on Tuesday. HTC has traditionally released new products in the United States and Europe, which further demonstrates the strategic transformation of HTC. Dong Junliang, president of HTC China, said at the press conference that “the Chinese market is so important” and China is “the largest market in the world. We will use the Chinese market as the home”.

Before China became the world's largest smartphone market, HTC has focused on the US market. The initial strategy was very effective. In 2011, HTC also accounted for about 20% of the US smart phone market. However, since the beginning of last year, the HTC business has suffered a downturn. It has been squeezed out by companies such as Apple and Samsung. Currently, its share in the US smartphone market is only 9%. The weak sales of mobile phones have affected the financial performance of HTC. This month, the first loss in ten years was reported.

The outlook for HTC is not good: Both Nokia and Motorola have been acquired due to financial difficulties, and BlackBerry is also seeking to sell the company. There are rumors in the market that HTC may also face the same fate.

HTC announced on Tuesday the HTC One Max with a 5.9-inch display. HTC One Max is equipped with a fingerprint sensor, and another major selling point is to support China's 4G LTE network. Dong Junliang said, “This is the first large-screen mobile phone to support China’s 4G network. We hope to sell high-end mobile phones that can adapt to the 4G era.”

According to market research firm Analysys International, sales of smart phones in China will reach 240 million units this year, which is about twice that of the US market.

Since the second quarter of last year, HTC China business has grown rapidly. China has become HTC's largest smart phone market, but it is still not enough to make HTC salt fish stand up.

Analyst International analyst Nicole Peng said that HTC has said that it is considered a high-end brand in the Chinese market, but its market share is quite low and it has not entered the top ten smart phone manufacturers in the Chinese market.

HTC's competitors are several major manufacturers, many of them are Chinese local manufacturers. Samsung and Apple are only two foreign companies that have established a foothold in the Chinese market. Local Chinese companies include Lenovo, Huawei, and ZTE.

The growth of China's smart phone market is driven by low-end Android phones, priced at RMB 1,000 and below. Traditionally, HTC has always taken the high-end route. Another flagship product, the HTC One, starts at RMB 4,488.

Since entering the Chinese market in 2010, HTC has introduced several low-cost models. In addition to One Max, HTC also launched the Desire mid-range product on Tuesday, the price of 1,500 yuan -2000 yuan, will soon be on sale.

HTC CEO Zhou Yongming said in July that the company will launch new middle and low-end products to increase its market share. However, sales of low-end mobile phones have a limited role in supporting the smartphone business. Adversaries such as ZTE acknowledged that low-end handsets have very low profitability and that it is difficult to make profits in the Chinese market.

Unlike HTC, ZTE plans to increase profitability by selling high-end mobile phones in the US market. ZTE has a very large network equipment business and can provide sufficient funds for the smart phone business. Lenovo's situation is similar to that of ZTE.

The real challenge faced by HTC in the Chinese smartphone market is to increase brand awareness. Melissa Chau, an analyst at market research firm IDC, said that HTC hopes to sell more mobile phones in the Chinese market, but the competition from local Chinese mobile phone manufacturers is fierce, "HTC is at risk of being overwhelmed by many Android mobile phone manufacturers." .