Chinese competition led to HTC India exit: Experts

According to CyberMedia Research (CMR), it is more of a failure on the part of HTC to judge the competition as well as grasp the market realities.

A 2017 survey by CMR found that Samsung, Apple and HTC were rated by consumers as the most successful mobile brands in the first decade of smartphones in India. Nearly 78 per cent of those surveyed named HTC as one of the most iconic brands in the country.

“HTC as innovative it was in technology could not match it with innovations in the business model or execution. The brand was either too late to adopt or didn’t participate at all. This was the main reason for HTC to chart out a different trajectory against the market movements,” said Faisal Kawoosa, Head-New Initiatives at CMR, in a statement.

Chinese brands like Xiaomi, OPPO and Vivo have gained a lion’s share of the Indian smartphone market, leaving HTC way behind. Earlier this year, HTC sold off its design team to Google for $1.1 billion.

Prabhu Ram, Head-Industry Intelligence Group at CMR, said there are some key lessons for other smartphone brands emerging from HTC’s India exit.

“While smartphone innovation, and the constant battle for ‘latest specs’ is centric to a brand success, it is critical that it goes hand in hand with consumer as well as market understanding and underlying market realities,” Ram said.

“HTC’s most recent mid-range smartphone launch, the HTC Desire 12+, failed in getting its pricing right. At around Rs 20,000, it did not offer a compelling reason for consumers to opt for it as other mobile handset brands offer far more, at far lesser prices,” he noted. Earlier this month, reports surfaced that HTC was cutting a fifth of its global workforce after being hit by consecutive financial losses and declining smartphone sales.

The company was reportedly laying off some 1,500 manufacturing workers at its home turf, in an apparent attempt to “realign” resources, media reported.

It has now reportedly laid off senior management in India.

The company signed a $1.1 billion deal with Google in September last year that saw 2,000 HTC employees join the technology giant. HTC, known for its flagship phone series called ‘One,’ manufactured Google’s Pixel. The deal was part of Google’s aim to boost its hardware business.

Launch of HTC phones in June under Rs 20,000 did not help. “HTC which earlier had competition with brands like Sony or LG suddenly found itself surrounded by Chinese players and could not evolve to meet the growing needs of the users amid changing mobile landscape in India,” said Tarun Pathak, Associate Director at Counterpoint Research