Back in 1997, when HTC was a design and manufacturing outfit, it launched what was then a unique product: a PDA. Less than two years later, with the company requiring a large injection of cash, it was clear the product was ahead of its time. As co-founder Cher Wang (daughter of the second richest man in Taiwan) later observed: ‘The market just wasn’t ready for a PDA phone that behaved like a minicomputer’.
Yet just last week, HTC announced some extraordinary news. Record profits for the first three months of the year had hit £313m, triple that of the same period last year – and in terms of market value, it had overtaken Nokia. It seems HTC hasn’t just captured your imagination – it’s captured your wallet, too.
Read on to reveal the secrets behind its success!
Designers rule, not accountants…
The secret: Like Apple, HTC focuses on every microscopic detail of its designs. San Francisco design agency Once & Co, which it acquired in 2008, has been responsible for the aesthetics of every handset since the HTC Diamond. It pioneered unibody metal design in mobiles, and thus helped the company stand out from a crowd of creaking plastic.
The best Android skin – bar none…
The secret: You might not even have realised that your HTC Desire’s ring volume lowers as you pick it up, or that it tells you if it’s the birthday of the person who’s calling. But compare that level of intuitiveness to Orange‘s unsuccessful attempts to make its phones stand out, or Sony Ericsson‘s bid to squeeze more money from its customers by funnelling them into a proprietary apps store. It’s not hard to see why people are switching to HTC when they come to upgrade.
Gadget fans get what they want – not what HQ thinks they want…
The secret: Just because something is popular in Japan doesn’t mean it’ll work in the UK – but try telling that to your manager in Japan over a conference call. HTC stays lean by giving each region room for manoeuvre, and tailoring products to their specific audiences. It doesn’t parachute in execs who don’t speak the native tongue, and is more than happy to meet US demand by providing 4G phones as well as handsets unique to Europe (the HTC Legend, for instance), based on what gadgets fans are hungry for.
The cajones to take on iTunes…
The secret: A faster, slimmer slab of metal is all well and good, but HTC is also willing to take on the iPhone with cloud services and multimedia. At first, that amounted to little more than the blending of your phonebook, Twitter account and Facebook friends. These days, HTC Sense includes a whole suite of apps, from a Locations mapping service that – in certain situations – is actually is faster than Google Maps, to a media streaming app and a simple way to track your phone should you lose it.
So there you have it. With Nokia displaced, only Apple and Samsung remain more valuable. How long before HTC takes their scalps too? Can anyone stop it? Sound off with your thoughts in the comments!
