Chairwoman Cher Wang promises 'disruptive' tablet; CEO Peter Chou says wearables are 'a critical segment for us'
In an extensive joint interview with the Financial Times, HTC CEO Peter Chou and Chairwoman Cher Wang offered some fresh insight into the troubled smartphone maker's future plans — including hints at entries into new product categories.
The pair confirmed that Wang would be stepping up her day-to-day duties at the company, and taking on some of Chou's "sales, marketing and supplier relationships" duties, allowing him to focus on "innovation" and the product portfolio. The move will see the HTC chairwoman working six days a week at the company, as opposed to two previously, the FT reports, as HTC aims to work its way out of its current slump.
As far as future products are concerned, the HTC bosses hinted at a return to the tablet market, as well as a possible foray into the world of wearables. Chou reportedly mentions that HTC worked on a smartwatch-type device with Microsoft "several years ago," but dismissed the current crop of wearables: “It has to meet a need, otherwise if it’s just a gimmick or concept, it’s not for people’s day-to-day lives. That is an opportunity for us.” Nevertheless, he describes wearables as "a critical segment for us," adding “it matches what we do today as a mobile experience overall. That is one area we are excited about.”
Cher Wang also points at a return to the tablet market for HTC, a space it quickly left after releasing the poorly-received Jetstream and Flyer tablets in 2011. While few details are offered, Wang is quoted as saying, “when the [HTC] tablet comes out it will be something nice and disruptive.” But with strong competition from many of the major consumer electronics brands, HTC, as a smaller player with fewer marketing dollars to spend, could find its tablets facing issues similar to those affecting its smartphone business.
Chou, however, shares a more optimistic view: “The market is really big. HTC is a small company. For us to stay competitive and survive is not a huge problem.” He adds that there's a good chance of the company winning a 15 percent share of the high-end market, and a five percent overall smartphone market share — a figure he describes as a “pretty good number for us.”
Source: Financial Times (1), (2)
Reader comments
HTC bosses hint at future tablet and wearable devices
Microsoft worked on a smartwatch-type device with Microsoft "several years ago,"
Microsoft worked with Microsoft?
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I can't dispute that.
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Always late to the party.
Gotta give them credit for the optimism.
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Did they just take a swing at someone? I think they did.
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Double trouble
Nice and disruptive and probably way overpriced for the market.
I sense an overpriced failure coming up...
Why is he still CEO?
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They start to sound and seem like BlackBerry a couple of years ago... They're just not getting it :( Too bad, HTC actually has some good ideas, just really can't catch a break.
Don't do that. Wearables are not going to be an important category for anyone for a while yet.
Ms. Wang should've already been working 6 days a week with all the fails they've been achieving lately..
I would love to know how much she was being paid for 2 days of work each week. It probably makes the RDJ deal seem reasonable.
I bought my mother-in-law the HTC Flyer (Black Friday Special). I have never seen a device become unsupported so quickly.
Between Amazon's and Google's tablets - what exactly can HTC do that would be so disruptive? (Besides spend millions on commercials that quickly disappeared)
Forget tablets. Forget "wearables".
Produce ONE PHONE series, grow that series. Innovate from that line, start being profitable.
They have slimmed down their device list from years past but HTC really needs to focus on one thing and do that thing justice. The One is the first step, grow from it not detour into other markets..
"Produce ONE PHONE series, grow that series. Innovate from that line, start being profitable.
They have slimmed down their device list from years past but HTC really needs to focus on one thing and do that thing justice. The One is the first step, grow from it not detour into other markets.."
Tell that to Samsung.
Samsung isn't in the RED quarter after quarter..
Has anybody seen Donald Trump,I need him to say,"Your Fired!!!!!"
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I don't know about you guys, but I'm really pumped for the HTC One Smartwatch with front facing speakers and boom sound
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“when the [HTC] tablet comes out it will be something nice and disruptive.”
Here comes the HTC One max.
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That's not a tablet.
Anthony
Would you define the Note 3 or the Note 10.1 as tablets?
I know I'm going to get hell for this but, my opinion is that HTC just needs to give up...
I think we can all agree that build quality on watches is very important, so HTC might be able to produce a good smartwatch given their history of making devices with great build quality.
I think this is something Samsung and Sony have failed to do with their watches.
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Advice as to how to manage International technology products corporations by forum participants is ridiculously stupid, immature, and nauseating. One can only imagine the levels of corporate management success these advisers have achieved.
As many have including some in this thread, "truthful" personal experiences with and questions, answers, and hopeful expectations about technology seem more purposeful and of value.
The fact that the CEO put his name and title on a big slide right behind himself speaks volumes.
Out of context. Speaks nothing. Stock photo from library of an unrelated event.
Oh, just step down already before you let your other competitors eat more of your lunch.
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