Windows Mobile device manufacturer HTC could hardly contain itself when asked for a reaction to the recently unveiled Apple iPhone. Although shares of the Taiwanese firm dropped 4.1% because of iPhone it is adamant on its future strategy in hardware, which we can be sure will not be as a “copy cat” of Apple.
HTC is not gearing up to add multi-point touchscreen just yet to a future device. This multi-touch screen is the the iPhone’s most lauded innovation, and you can bet other manufacturers are scrambling their engineers for a line up of handsets with multi-touch controls. The best HTC has done is a bulky Pocket PC with a touch-sensitive screen and a full QWERTY keyboard called the Athena. Though at $1,700 a pop, this plus-sized Pocket PC will pose no serious threat to the iPhone.
When asked about the multi-point touchscreen technology in the iPhone, an HTC president and chief executive officer Peter Chou was sheepish: “It’s a pretty eye-catching design, but we have our own cool stuff coming out as well.” Probably worse of all, is HTC’s admission that it hasn’t been in talks with Microsoft about producing a Zune phone.
HTC has decided to push products carrying its own brand earlier this year, which is a far riskier business than simply making pre-ordered devices for established handset brands. Almost immediately it has been hit by falling orders from former clients like Hewlett Packard and Palm.
One of the reasons might be all this action (below) that HTC is missing.
Update: Maybe multi-touch screen is not outside HTC’s horizon after all. HTC just announced that the HTC Cavalier, a yet-to-be-released smartphone will be indefinitely delayed. Maybe when it does get released we’ll see the Cavalier sporting multi-touch controls. It doesn’t hurt to dream.
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