For its upcoming mid-range smartphones, HTC will be using chipsets from players other than its long-time partner, Qualcomm, to counter competition from affordable handset manufacturers, as confirmed by a company executive.
Focus Taiwan has cited Jack Tong, HTC's head of China and North Asia, who shed some light on the company's plans for its upcoming mid-range smartphones.
According to Tong, the Taiwanese handset maker will start pricing its high-end smartphones at a more affordable level. Coming to the company's mid-range smartphones, Tong revealed that the three mid-range Desire smartphones the company launched on Wednesday, are using chips from ST-Ericsson, Spreadtrum and Broadcom, instead of Qualcomm.
Specifically, the HTC Desire 501 is powered by ST-Ericsson's U8520 dual-core processor, the Desire 601 dual-SIM is powered by Broadcom's Java quad-core processor, and the Desire 700 dual-SIM is powered by Spreadtrum's Shark quad-core processor.
"HTC will evaluate the situation. If most players in the industry are seeking high performance to cost, then we would not be able to ignore such a trend despite good design and applications," Tong told Focus Taiwan.
A recent report revealed that the Taiwanese smartphone maker would slash costs of its devices by nearly a quarter, and plans to sell cheaper devices in a bid to bounce back to profit in the October-December period.
The HTC One mini features the same design as that of its elder sibling, the HTC One. However, the phone's front and sides sport polycarbonate/ plastic, while its back is made of aluminium, unlike the HTC One which is made entirely from aluminium barring the glass display and some inserts.
The HTC One mini also features the same BoomSound speakers, though they're smaller compared to the ones featured in the HTC One. The HTC One mini is also stripped of chamfered edges that we had seen in the HTC One. It also doesn't offer an Infrared Blaster.
The HTC One mini sports a 4.3-inch S-LCD3 display with a resolution of 720x1280 pixels and pixel density of 341ppi.
The phone is powered by a 1.4 GHz dual core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 processor and has 1GB of RAM. It comes with 16GB of internal storage but doesn't feature any external expansion options.
The smartphone runs Android 4.2 with HTC's Sense 5 UI layer on top, and includes HTC BlinkFeed, that delivers social updates, news updates and photos directly to the home screen of the phone.
The HTC One mini sports the same UltraPixel Camera (with a 4-megapixel lens) that the HTC One boasts of. It also features HTC Zoe and Video Highlights imaging features. The phone offers a 1.6-megapixel front facing camera for video calls and self clicks. It's powered by an 1800mAh non-removable battery.
The HTC One mini will be available in Glacial Silver and Stealth Black colours, in select markets from August, with a global rolled out starting September. There's no information in the pricing or availability of the device in the Indian market.HTC One mini key specifications
- 4.3-inch S-LCD3 display with a resolution of 720x1280 pixels
- 1.4GHz dual-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 400 Processor
- 1GB RAM
- 16GB internal storage
- UltraPixel camera with a 4-megapixel lens with BSI sensor and LED flash
- 1.6-megapixel front facing camera
- Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with HTC Sense 5
- 1800mAh battery
- 132x63.2x9.25mm
- 122grams
The yet to be announced HTC Butterfly S smartphone has been listed on company's official website. However, there is no word when HTC may launch the device.
Earlier, HTC unveiled Butterfly S in Taiwan and it was speculated that the company would launch the device in developing markets soon that includes India.
HTC Butterfly S sports a 5.0-inch Super LCD 3 display with a pixel density of 440PPIs and the display also features Corning Gorilla Glass 3. On the hardware front, the device is powered by a 1.9GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad-core processor with 2GB RAM. It would run the Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with HTC Sense 5.0 UI on top. The HTC Butterfly S much like the HTC One, comes with a 4.0-megapixel UltraPixel camera with the Zoe camera software feature and the rear camera supports full-HD video recording. It also has a 2.1-megapixel front camera with an 88 degree wide-angle lens.
The device supports single SIM and would use a micro-SIM rather than the regular sized SIM. On music front, the device boasts off the HTC BoomSound feature with dual front stereo speakers with built-in amplifiers and Beats Audio.
Connectivity options include NFC support, Bluetooth 4.0 and Wi-Fi. The company has included a 3,200mAh battery that the company claims would deliver 29 hours of talk time and 544 hours of standby time. HTC has added the tagline, "Impressive style meets long-lasting stamina" to its HTC Butterfly S smartphone on the official site, highlighting the battery strength of the device.
Earlier we reported about HTC allegedly working on a 6.0-inch device, the One Max. The company is said to be working to expand its One series of smartphone globally. If the rumours are true, this would be the smartphone with biggest display from HTC and would be up against Samsung's Galaxy Mega series and Sony's Xperia Z Ultra smartphone.
The rumoured specifications include a 6.0-inch 1080p display and a 2.3GHz Snapdragon 800 processor with Adreno 330 graphics chip and 2GB RAM. The device will supposedly feature an UltraPixel rear camera that has been used in the HTC One, with a 2.1-megapixel front facing camera, Bluetooth 4.0 connectivity and would pack a 3,300mAh battery. The device is likely to be available in two storage variants, 32GB and 64GB, though storage would not be expandable.
The report also claims that the device would be a dual SIM phone and would be LTE compatible. Much like its predecessors, the HTC One Max is also expected to come with Sense 5.0 UI layer on top of the Android operating system.
Looking at the sheer size of the rumoured HTC One Max, it is being speculated that it would be a serious rival to the Samsung's Note Series that has been doing well in terms of sales since its launch. If true, this would be the first phablet from the stable of HTC.
The Taiwanese handset giant has been rumoured to be expanding its 'One' series and the HTC One Max can be considered to be a part of this expansion.
The Mobilegeeks.de also claims that HTC is all set to release the One Max and One Mini in September. However, it is also being said that HTC has no plans to release any new phones this calendar year.
Earlier, HTC One Mini was spotted again in fresh photos with supposedly confirmed specifications. The HTC One Mini is rumoured to be powered by a 1.4GHz dual-core Snapdragon 400 processor with Adreno 305 for graphics and 1GB RAM. It could sport a 4.3-inch 720p display with a resolution of 720x1280 pixels. It is also expected to feature the 4.0-megapixel UltraPixel camera found in the HTC One along with a 1.6-megapixel front camera. It would run Android 4.2 Jelly Bean with the latest Sense 5.0 UI layer on top. The device will come with 16GB storage of which 12GB will be user-accessible.