HTC sees revenue falling due to "delays in product launches"
By Darren Murph 
posted Aug 3rd 2009 2:28AM
posted Aug 3rd 2009 2:28AM
posted Aug 3rd 2009 2:28AM
The percentage of returned gadgets that have nothing wrong with them.
Of the $13.8 billion worth of returned products in 2007, only 5 percent were because gadgets were actually broken, according to a 2008 study.
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Just as HTC and Sony Ericsson are capitalizing on it in the UK and Motorola in the US.
I think HTC (and Sony Ericsson, because they are a good company with quality products) should tap into the US market with unbranded phones.
Sure there's a big illusive (well, unless there REALLY IS A RULE) agreement that all phones that come to Canada and the US are either locked to native carriers by default, or make it in by ways of debranding/unlocking and customs.
I think any company that has not seen the light of having completely unbranded phones available in North America should try to reach out to the people who WANT these devices to BE compatible, and readily available to use on their network.
Vodafone got their Touch Pro 2 about a month or two ago, and now TELUS (mind you, not that readily accessible of a network without $25 equipment swap fees) has come out with it, although it's hard to say how their stock is. (They've been really illusive about releasing it to people to buy, especially at best buy where a 'notice' apparently went around, perhaps marking the new order of device exclusivity?)
In any case, they need to open up to both CDMA networks AND GSM networks when releasing new devices.
I'm sure people on the TELUS network who are looking at the Dream and the Magic are pretty big on the idea of the release being equal vice-versa.
The choice should be given to the customer, regardless of network. (is what I want to say and finish off with)
one of the big issues in North America is that two of the four major carriers (Sprint and Verizon) use CDMA technology and not GSM, and of the two GSM carriers (AT&T and T-Mobile) their 3G bands are incompatible. Now if CDMA had a SIM card then you could more easily swap an unlocked CDMA phone between either Verizon or Sprint. As of now you have to call customer service with the ESN and have them activate it for you, and if you bought the phone used it had better have a 'clean ESN' Thus the market is horribly fragmented and if you want to launch a unlocked 3G phone you almost need to target a carrier, and by going to that length it's just as easy to work with the carrier directly
But it's such a hassle to customers...
I'm canadian, so I'm speaking for TELUS, Bell and Rogers.
I think it's easier up here, and we get the devices sooner than you guys in the US, so I'm pretty sure SOMETHING is being done quite differently.
One CDMA network, and one HSPA network, with expectation of a new HSPA+ network coming soon for/from all three giants.
[Read, HSPA+ transition for the CDMA carriers for most of Canada and the new 21Mbps layout for the Greater Toronto Area, both in 2010]
@Robert, speaking as a current Sprint Nextel customer I can tell you that the myth of "As of now you have to call customer service with the ESN and have them activate it for you, and if you bought the phone used it had better have a 'clean ESN' Thus the market is horribly fragmented" is FALSE.
Step 1: login to My Sprint
Step 2: click on 'activate phone'
Step 3: Since CDMA hasnt used ESNs in THREE years, youd put the MEID number in along with the DEC
Step 4: Click Activate
And Voila. It is truly amazing to me the amount of ignorance on the Internet that fuels these biased, useless bullshit perceptions.
point well taken, though it would simplify things if CDMA did use a SIM card and it would be much easier to market an unlocked CDMA phone to the public
Ok then, has there ever been CDMA phones sold as new, unlocked? Can you "Voila" a Verizon phone on Sprints network? Or vice versa?
So, you (Engadget) seriously don't think that the Sprint TP2 will ever see the light of day? Interesting, but it does make sense. How else can you explain the fact that T-Mobile got it first, which almost never happens with any device. Obviously HTC knows that Sprint salespeople will be busy pushing the Pre, and AT&T salespeople the iPhone. I'm sure they know that the TP2 will be shoved in some back corner of the store, so why not focus on other carriers that aren't tied up with exlucisvity and huge marketing agreements with other manufacturers?
Getting back to the original point, ah-hem, I am a VZW customer (I know, I'm ashamed to admit it myself) and I just had to have the BB storm when it was first released. I had absolutely no idea a Touch Pro was being released for VZW around the same time. In fact, I had never even heard of HTC until well after the G1 was released (I blame myself for that though). I found the Touch Pro on verizon's website only because I was super depressed with my Storm and was making sure there wasn't something cooler out that I could of had instead, some 3-4 month's after the release. Granted, I count my lucky stars that I wasn't dooped into the Pro (as i'm sure you all know how verizon ruined the greatness of the device). Anyways, getting to my point, Verizon didn't even advertize the release of the Touch Pro. All I heard about was the new touch screen blackberry. Same thing when the diamond was released, not a word from VZW. In fact, the Touch Pro had been out for 8 months before I even saw it at my local VZW store (yes I do realize it has only been out for 9 months). Now I don't know what HTC did to piss off big red so bad, but I think maybe if Verizon would have advertised it a little better, had less crippling effects on the phones capabilities, and provided customers with AT LEAST a dummy phone to look at in store, HTC would have sold thousands more TP's for the CDMA giant. I look on VZW's website and saw over 1000 reviews for the LG touch, a week after its release. Right now the TP has less than 300 reviews and the Diamond has less than 50. Also, I blame the fact that VZW charged almost $400 for the TP WITH a new 2-year contract! I don't care who you are, but paying that much for a crippled phone is just stupid. Seriously though, I am speaking on behalf of us VZW customers, but if Verizon advertized for HTC's phones, it wouldn't matter if their sales in China slipped a little. VZW has such a huge customer base, I dont see any reason why HTC didn't clean up with the release of the Diamond. I am highly anticipating the release of the new TP2, praying every night that VZW doesn't cripple it the way the first one was. A phone I heard about NOT from verizon, but from websites like this. I also feel with the release of the TP2 & Diamond2, HTC can really clean house with a lot of disgruntled, wifi-less customers looking to replace their LG dares, and their Chocolate 3's, or even the few TP owners. Knibb High football rules!!!
I don't think Verizon not advertising had anything to do with their relationship between HTC being strained. People need to understand the plight of the big four in the US right now. It's about four major things.
1) Network capabilities including coverage, quality of service, and data transmissions.
2) Carrier offerings - features such as tethering, streaming content, navigation, etc.
3) Handset selection
4) Probably most important to the majority is 'COST OF SERVICE'
They know that windows mobile is not in any capacity at this point to compete with the new smartphone OS of today. It's nice but not flashy. Let's face it. Most smartphone users are geeks and status posers not business people. So the flashier, prettier, and other functionality besides email the better. Maybe one has a flashlight built-in or a laser pointer. Nevertheless, these are all selling points for those looking for geek creds. And it's what's selling devices today. Who can give you the most cost effective geek creds as well as productiveness. Windows therefore, is not a hot item. It's had a touchscreen for a while. Even though it was meant to be used with a stylus. While Rim has not. So, it being the latest and greatest(geek creds) it was sought after by Verizon to be able to compete with At&t(iPhone), Sprint(Palm Pre), and T-mobile(first Android handsets - G1,Touch). They learned that 'Can You Hear Me Know' was not enough. Even after buying up Alltel. They are learning that staying number one is about more than coverage. People are not that narrow minded. Honestly, I know people with Verizon that drop just as many calls as any other carrier. And I mean in good areas. So network boasting is not enough. Boasting that you have the best network with a first from a major manufacturer is a different story. I look at the number of people with Storms. It's ridiculous. I see more of those than iPhones. In all honesty, I know more people that are on their third Original Touch(HTC) due to problems than a little on Verizon and Sprint. So it's no surprise on why they didn't make a big deal of said handset either.
I have to admit, the delays in the UK release were frustrating for the HTC Hero, but now that it's out on T-mobile, I've all but forgotten that frustration.
Should be titled: HTC see falling revenue due to iPhone 3gs.