On June 12, Beijing time, a well-known mobile phone manufacturer in Taiwan, China, officially released its latest HTC U24 Pro mobile phone, which uses a new high-resolution screen and is equipped with the latest Google Android 14 operating system's latest flagship mobile phone, which still conquers a lot of iron fans with superior performance. However, for the vast majority of mainland users, HTC is really a rather distant mobile phone brand.
As the proper "Android king" of the year, HTC is definitely a palace-level existence in the field of global consumer electronics in the era of feature phones and early smartphones, and its weight in the mobile phone industry is not inferior to today's Apple and Huawei. HTC mobile phones at their peak, once topped the US mobile phone sales list, occupying nearly 20% of the market share, even Apple's Steve Jobs, in the face of HTC's strong momentum, had to retreat.
However, why is such a legendary mobile phone brand reduced to the point where no one cares about it? So much so that now the press conference of the new flagship mobile phone has a trace of desolation? HTC, how does it make a good hand of cards to the brim?
The first sister of Android from Taiwan, the king of Android machines in the limelight
In May 2011, Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple, who was bedridden with pancreatic cancer, was so nervous that he immediately called Ron Johnson, the head of Apple's offline retail business, to confirm whether the news was true after hearing that a Chinese couple had bought several iPhones and iPads from an Apple phone store.
What made Jobs sit up when he was seriously ill was not the tens of thousands of dollars in product sales, but because it was the richest man in Taiwan, China, and HTC founder Wang Xuehong and his wife who bought their own products in the retail store at that time.
As the palm of Wang Yongqing, the god of Taiwanese management, unlike other rich second generations, Wang Xuehong did not take over her father's industry, but chose to start her own business, she first founded a VIA chip company with CPU and GPU research and development capabilities, and then entered the field of mobile phone foundry in a big way, and established the future famous THC, Chinese name Hongda Electric.
When HTC was first founded, it was only for Microsoft and Dell to OEM handheld computers, but with superb foundry technology and delivery efficiency, HTC soon became one of the world's top handheld computer foundries, so much so that Bill Gates said frankly: "HTC is the best computer OEM we have ever worked with, the best partner." ”
Due to the line with Microsoft in the field of foundry, when Microsoft released its self-developed mobile phone operating system Windows Mobile in 2002, HTC saw the opportunity to launch the mobile phone HTC XDA equipped with this system, and since then, HTC has become an instant hit in the field of mobile phone foundry and manufacturing. In 2006, with the release of Google's epoch-making Android operating system, Wang Xuehong officially announced that HTC began to operate its own mobile phone brand, make its own mobile phones, and took the lead in releasing the world's first Android mobile phone HTC G1, which was well received as soon as it was released, and sold 1.5 million units in pre-sale alone.
In the wild era of the expansion of the Android mobile phone camp, HTC shined in the smartphone market by virtue of its deep binding with Google, and once became the world's fourth largest mobile phone brand after Nokia, Blackberry and Apple, ranking first in the Android camp and becoming a proper Android king.
In 2010, HTC even reversed itself and copied Apple's hometown, becoming the best-selling mobile phone brand in the United States with a market share of more than 20%. HTC's stock also soared, the company's market value soared to $33.8 billion, and the founders Wang Xuehong and his wife became the richest people in Taiwan.
Bet on XR technology, can HTC return as king?
After the peak, the best will come, and so will HTC. In the face of HTC, Apple, Nokia and other European and American manufacturers began to file various infringement lawsuits against HTC on patent issues, you know, HTC mobile phone OEM background, neither has enough self-developed patent reserves, nor does it want to spend real money to build patent barriers, so various European and American manufacturers sue HTC can be said to be a quasi, HTC pays patent fees everywhere, not to mention, it has also been banned by the United States and other countries, and has since lost the confidence to compete with Apple, Nokia and other European and American manufacturers.
In the past, HTC has always regarded itself as a high-end brand, and even disdained to expand the mainland market, until it was mired in patent complaints in Europe and the United States, HTC looked back and thought of the mainland mobile phone market with great potential. However, when HTC fought with Apple and Nokia on patent lawsuits, Chinese mainland mobile phone manufacturers quietly rose, and in 2011, the main cost-effective Xiaomi mobile phone was born, completely cutting off HTC's retreat.
The increasingly fierce market competition, coupled with the ban on the sale of HTC's products due to patent issues in many countries, has completely lost HTC's past glory, and its market share has plummeted, in just 7 years, HTC's market value has evaporated by 97%, and the blood loss is nearly 100 billion, and even the Tmall flagship store can not be opened. In this regard, HTC mobile phones have gradually faded out of the public's field of vision.
Of course, seeing that there is no way back on the track of mobile phones, HTC has to change the track, announcing that it is fully committed to the VR business, and continues to launch various VR virtual image equipment.
Although at present, VR equipment has not completely sunk to the mass market for the time being, HTC still retains a place in the field of high-end VR virtual equipment, of course, if you want to return to the glory of the past, HTC may still have more than enough strength in a short period of time.
Today, HTC mobile phones are still maintaining small batches of new products, the hundred-legged insects are dead but not stiff, HTC mobile phones have not completely disappeared, perhaps in the eyes of HTC fans, this once made Apple extremely nervous brand, really has a comeback one day.