Struggling HTC has finally made a come back as it made profit of US$75.5 million in Q2 2014. The Taiwanese smart phone maker had been posting losses for the past few quarters and this marks an 80% increase over the same period last year.
Its turnaround was attributed to its HTC One M8 flagship that was launched in Q1, followed by its mid-tier Desire 816 and Desire 610 smart phones. While these mid to high end devices have been doing well, HTC is facing an uphill challenge from affordable Chinese makers which are disrupting the market place.
It looks like HTC is doing things right as they recently announced its affordable HTC One E8 that offers high-performance at a mid-tier price. When it went on sale in China, they have sold 50,000 One E8 smart phones in just 15 minutes. Not surprising as it offers the same specs as the HTC One M8 without its metallic body for only 2,800 Chinese Yuan, which is about RM1,445. This could be their best seller if they release the One E8 internationally.
For the entry level segment, HTC has yet to come out with a cheap and cheerful device. Just recently they had released their first MediaTek based smart phone with the Desire 310. However its low specs and RM499 price tag seems lost in a sea filled with better alternatives from China. It is a price sensitive market and HTC has vowed not to succumb to making cheap looking phones even for its most affordable model.
