HTC needs to make a comeback

HTC is a shadow of its former self these days. It used to be a giant in the smartphone world, but now it produces mid-range devices and VR headsets. A part of me misses those cool phones of the past decade, some of which were among the best Android phones produced.

Imagine if HTC made a comeback. What would that look like? It could be a game changer and could shake up an Android market desperately in need of a kick in the pants. I’ve got some thoughts about an imaginary comeback of HTC today.

HTC is still around, surprisingly

Don’t call it a comeback, HTC’s been here for years

HTC is a Taiwanese company. It’s still there in Taipei, and it’s still putting out the odd phone. Much of its efforts these days are on VR and its portable 5G network gear. It doesn’t make laptops anymore. All the excitement around HTC from the 2010s seems like a distant memory.

The latest HTC phone is the U24 Pro, which is a decent mid-range device, all things considered. It has an older Snapdragon 7 Gen 3 chip and ships with 12 GB of RAM. It won’t turn any heads, but it shouldn’t let you down, either. It’s still rather meh.

And that basically sums up HTC today — still alive, but nothing special. It earned $4.4 billion in 2023 but netted a measly $148 million in profit after operating costs. It’s enough to stay afloat, but also a stark contrast compared to the whopping $6.7 billion in net profit it made in 2013. The question is: Can HTC rise again and become a smartphone juggernaut?

It wasn’t always so

HTC was once the golden goose of Android

It wasn’t always this way. HTC was such a powerful player in the tech space that Google chose the company to launch the first-ever Android phone, the HTC Dream (aka the T-Mobile G1 in the US). This device was a revelation in 2008, taking on both Apple and Blackberry. HTC showed the world what Android was all about.

The company then had an explosive growth trajectory over the next few years, releasing some groundbreaking devices like the Evo 4G and the HTC Hero. HTC took the world by storm, and it was just getting warm. But it was the HTC One M7 in 2013 that really blew people’s minds.

The One M7 had an all-aluminum unibody chassis and a gorgeous 1080p Super LCD screen. The knockout feature was those two front-firing speakers that made the bass go boom.

This phone completely overpowered the competition, becoming one of the best-selling phones in the world and putting HTC in the top tier of phone makers. It was up there with Samsung, Motorola, and Apple, and markets understood that HTC was not your average smartphone company.

HTC followed up the success of the One M7 with the One M8. The phone kept the same overall design as the M7, but featured a larger 5-inch screen and a rounded back. It did well in 2014, but wasn’t as popular as the M7. The HTC One M9 followed up in 2015, but by then, the market had moved on to Samsung and Apple.

Android is stagnating today

The smartphone landscape looks completely different

Samsung rules Android today. Even the next biggest phone maker, Google, is in a distant second place. Sony, OnePlus, Motorola, and all the others, including HTC, are so niche now that most of their phones don’t even show up in stores. There’s a severe lack of innovation going on in the upper end of the Android market.

Look, I strongly believe Android needs competition to thrive. The platform is all about customizability and innovation. We’ve lost a lot of what we love about Android thanks to the dominance of Samsung and Google, and I think it’s ripe for a strong competitor to show up and slice and dice their hold on the industry.

The HTC One reimagined

They’ve got the pedigree, the money, and the name, so why not?

And that’s exactly why I would love to see HTC rock this land once again. Picture this: HTC suddenly launches a modern-day successor to the HTC One line. It could boast a sleek titanium unibody frame (because titanium is all the rage right now).

Naturally, this new HTC device would be powered by the upcoming Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chip. It would require a vapor chamber to handle heat and a fast-charging battery. An always-on Super AMOLED screen would be a must.

But here’s where it would differentiate itself from Samsung: front-facing speakers placed above and below the screen. That’s right. The new HTC could forget about the conventional wisdom that we all need a completely bezel-less experience.

Bring back those gorgeous speakers, and add a headphone jack and removable storage to boot. Add a DAC to it, and suddenly this HTC opens up an entirely new market segment. A high-end device focused on amazing sound could give it the edge.

So what’s stopping HTC?

Google is the elephant in the room

Google “bought” 4,000 HTC employees and most of its One IP to produce the Pixel line of phones. HTC was starting to hurt by 2016 and was looking for a way to raise some cash and offload their flailing One line, so when Google came knocking, HTC said “Pass the old gold.”

This means HTC cannot legally use the HTC One brand anymore. It’s used a variety of names for phones since then, settling on the current uninspiring “U” designation. But no fears, because I have the perfect name for a new phone. The HTC Two!

Maybe one day HTC will wow us with a great new high-end phone that harkens back to the One M7. Maybe one day we’ll look at HTC and say, “Yes, THIS is what an Android is supposed to be!” The HTC U24 Pro is cool, but imagine what an HTC Two could do.