Will HTC survive?

HTC has been a leading competitor in the smartphone market for years. Recently, their revenues plummeted by 98% compared to last year. HTC claims this is due to the high competition from the market, especially Apple and Samsung. With the decline in revenues, it is only natural that their stock prices fell as well. HTC is struggling to keep up with Apple’s iphones and Samsung’s Galaxy models. HTC was supposed to release the HTC One smartphone in March, but they dropped the ball on that plan due to no revenues coming in and still having their fixed costs. In an attempt to hang on in the market, they recently announced a collaboration with Facebook for the feature of Facebook Home.

In class we had discussions that just because prices of stocks went down, does not necessarily mean that the quality of their product went down. The problem with the smartphone, and technology, in that matter, is that everything is fast-moving and changes are always taking place quickly. I have an HTC Thunderbolt smartphone, and there were extremely high hopes for it. It was a great phone until software started getting updated, such as different apps, but HTC Thunderbolt did not come out with a new update for the phone. Apple has a software update very often. Samsung has come out with the Galaxy and Galaxy 2 during the time that loyal HTC customers have been waiting for the update.

Part of the reason for HTC’s struggle is because they cannot keep up with the quick pace of change. That is one of the main complaints of customers.  This is why benchmarking is crucial. HTC does not need to come up with a new update every week, but they should try to improve their products so that they could keep up with app updates. I waited two years for my update. Before I received it, basic apps such as GMAIL, were not running properly on my phone because the app was no longer compatible with my phone’s software. My phone was essentially outdated. What did I decide to do? I am switching over to Apple and getting an iphone. Many customers have lost faith in HTC because they are taking their time with launching new products and updates.

A decline in revenues means that HTC’s products are not selling. In even a simpler way of putting it, customers are not interested. HTC is in big trouble if more customers start moving away from them and looking into Samsung or Apple products. HTC’s collaboration with Facebook is also up in the air because Facebook Home has not been fully tested out with customers. Currently, it will be an optional feature for your phone, but whether customers will want it is unknown. Before making this a permanent feature on the market, Facebook and HTC should run surveys to see if customers are even interested in something like this.

Do you think that HTC will survive in this constantly changing market? Is the collaboration with Facebook a good idea or a desperate measure to stay competitive in the market?

http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2013/04/08/for-htc-its-still-a-tough-road/

 

One thought on “Will HTC survive?

  1. I think this a very good critique of HTC’s poor supply chain management. I completely understand how frustrating having an outdated phone can be and why you would switch to iPhone. Judging by the newer phones HTC is making a bit of a comeback, but as far creating new products they are still lagging behind.

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