HTC CEO Cher Wang: "We had to rethink phones as a company. VR is more important."
Most people are buying upgrades and replacements rather than their first smartphones. For high-end phone makers like Samsung and Apple, this works out well as they will keep selling expensive new models, but for lesser-known companies like HTC which are attempting to target entry-level consumers, their phones are simply being overlooked, partly due to smaller marketing budgets.
Although demand from first-time buyers is growing in the Middle East, Africa and India, HTC doesn’t operate in these countries and the hugely lucrative Indian consumer tech market has its own strong local players battling to survive.
So will HTC finally fold up its smartphone business this year?
Wang doesn’t deny this as vehemently as expected. “Now we are more realistic. We feel that we should apply our best design to different type of sectors,” she says. “Yes, smartphones are important, but to create a natural extension to other connected devices like wearables and virtual reality is more important.”
Whether the Vive can single-handedly revive HTC’s fortunes remains to be seen. But in the meantime, Wang refuses to wallow in self-pity – she has one foot firmly in the future. “That’s what makes us different,” she says.
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