Whatever happened to HTC?

Man of Honour
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A quick search of this subforum revealed that there is only 1 thread created with "HTC" in the subject since 2018, and that was in the summer of 2019.

Wind ourselves back 10 years, and HTC had the 3rd biggest market share of any mobile phone manufacturer in the world, and the biggest in the US! So what on earth has happened to them? I know I can find a few articles around this on google, but thought it would be nice to reminisce a little here.

In 2010, I got my first "proper" smartphone, the Desire HD (I don't really count my Nokia 5800 XpressMusic, that had a web browser etc but was clunky as hell). Smooth software, android apps, well built and a giant 4.3" screen (this sounds ridiculous now, but I remember my mate ridiculing me for bring an "iPad" to a gig!). For me this was a real game-changer of a device that allowed me to recognise the benefits of a handheld device for internet activities compared to just using a computer.

I know that personally, I graduated onto Samsung Galaxy phones after that point (S3, Note4) which were better and understandably gaining market share with good products at 'OK' prices, but I always wondered how HTC lost their way following the massive success of the Desire/Desire HD era. I've been vaguely aware of them putting out some phones over the years that have had niche appeal but I'd struggle to correctly name many of them. There was the HTC One I remember that seemed to review well, but never really gained that much traction for some reason.

Oh and I'd almost forgotten, at one point around 2013(?) I had an HTC work phone running Windows mobile. Maybe they got a bit distracted away from Android by that?
 
Soldato
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Their Sense UI eventually got bloated, specs were unable to compete against the competition (Tegra SoCs was a bad choice). Then they reset themselves with the One M7 which simplified their Android skin with very good specs, and that carried over to the M8. But then after the M9 (with the SD810 fiasco) they started slipping again. Google then bought a fair chunk of HTC's mobile division which later became part of their Pixel team, leaving HTC with little left.

It's a shame really, the M7 is still one of my favourite Android phones of all time, I remember loving the speakers and the inbuilt DAC was pretty powerful. Sense UI was also nice and simple enough that didn't make me want to flash a AOSP style custom ROM, although I later flashed a Google Play edition ROM once Android 5.1 was released and Sense for the M7's final update was based on 5.0.
 
Soldato
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I remember buying my HTC Desire sim free from CPW on Oxford Street. Most stores weren't selling them without a contract (through choice), but because it was a larger store with more stock, they happily sold me one.
The handset was truly superb and was my first insight into the world of Android.

I then went on to get a HTC One X followed by a HTC One and then a HTC One m8. As each handset came out, they became less and less reliable and their customer service was equally as bad. If I remember rightly, I went through 3 or 4 m8's and then vowed to never buy another HTC again.
 
Associate
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I remember buying my HTC Desire sim free from CPW on Oxford Street. Most stores weren't selling them without a contract (through choice), but because it was a larger store with more stock, they happily sold me one.
The handset was truly superb and was my first insight into the world of Android.

I then went on to get a HTC One X followed by a HTC One and then a HTC One m8. As each handset came out, they became less and less reliable and their customer service was equally as bad. If I remember rightly, I went through 3 or 4 m8's and then vowed to never buy another HTC again.

I had exactly the same buying history for HTC, the One M series has this amazing premium feel to them, although alittle heavy because of all metal construction.

I vowed never to touch them again when they never sent me the a Google Play voucher code for buying one of their handsets. The usual nonsense like "check your spam folder", "we definitely sent" it but explained to them searching my entire email domain account resulted in nothing but initial confirmation of sign up. After that their customer service had a mental breakdown trying to understand what to do next and think off script.
 
Soldato
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They got complacent and then became irrelevant.

I had the original HTC Desire with oled screen. I liked that phone. Then came the Desire HD with a poor quality LCD panel and a smaller battery. Bigger screen yet smaller battery.

Dad had the M8 (edit it was actually the M7) which was another nice handset. However thereafter the decline set in. Average handset after average handset and then they were history. Much like LG and soon to be Sony.
 
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Soldato
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The U11 was a really good phone imo. Mine lasted a few years and the camera and screen were both superb... But the rate they rolled out updates was horrific so that became my last HTC.
Also started my smartphone journey with the Desire.
As to what happened to them.. I don't think they could keep up with the competition and they lost a lot of engineers to Google.
 
Soldato
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Think I had their m7. Their phones were always ALMOST great but let down by one thing or another. Was it the camera on the m7 that was crap? I think the battery was pretty good at the time and the metal body was awesome.

Sense was always so so.

Sort of felt like they just gave up trying after the m8 or 9 or whatever it was.
 
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My first smartphone was a HTC Hero. A great if quirky looking phone, that was the first to match price with performance to persuade me to jump onto the smartphone bandwagon.

Then got a HTC Sensation, which was OK apart from rubbish battery life.

I had a soft spot for HTC due to the Hero, but not enough to persuade me to buy another. The names they used for their phones also sounded like brands of condoms.
 
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I had a touch Pro 2 I think it was and a hd2. I was constantly flashing new roms on the hd2 and my only gripe was the touch screen was not very accurate, making typing awkward. Eventually bought a galaxy s2 and have had various galaxy versions ever since.
 
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I still use my M8 as a throwaway workout/podcast device. Surprisingly the battery still holds up really well, and it's functional enough for my needs. I love that they were a bit of an outlier and did decent, front facing speakers. I wish all phones had them; having the sound shoot towards my stomach just does not make sense to me.
 
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HTC's niche was great build quality earlier on, once everyone caught up and surpassed them they didn't have have a niche anymore, they were just another phone and not particularly well priced.

Shame, but it happens. They should have went for the value / performance market similar to OnePlus but they made the mistake in thinking buyers will pay extra for their brand despite having less features than Samsung and others Android manufactures.
 
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