HTC’s woes look set to continue with a new report suggesting the One M9 is underperforming massively, with shipments expected to be 43.75 percent lower than the One M8 managed in the first three months after launch. Things are so bad for the Taiwanese manufacturer that it has announced plans to introduced a new redesigned flagship phone in October instead of next year as its current product strategy might suggest
The One M8 and the One M9 have very little difference and this is arguably the biggest problem for HTC; its latest smartphone bought the same screen size and resolution and the small changes included an extra gigabyte of RAM, a two-tone colour finish and a redesigned camera. There was also a small bump in the battery capacity to 2840 mAh plus a change in processor and the latter has bought its own raft of issues (more on that below).
HTC One M9 – Really, HTC?
The biggest criticism leverages against the One M8 was the sub-standard 4MP UltraPixel camera and in the One M9, HTC moved this to the front of the handset while adding a 20MP Toshiba-supplied sensor on the rear. The problem is that, despite the increase in resolution, the camera is still a lot poorer than the competition and as we discovered in our blind camera shootout, it’s significantly inferior to the flagship Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge and Huawei P8 plus the mid-range Huawei Honor 6 Plus.
The other change in the One M9 was the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor, which bought its own problems. Like other Snapdragon 810 powered devices, the One M9 does occasionally overheat and the negative press around the processor – which Qualcomm claims is rubbish – coupled with the lack of real innovation has led to HTC’s struggles.
HTC’s Product Strategy – time to change?
A new report suggests that HTC shipped just 4.75 million units of the One M9 during the first three months after the handset went on sale, which is 43.75% lower than shipments of the One M8 in its first three months. By comparison, Samsung shipped 10 million units of the Galaxy S6 and Galaxy S6 Edge in its first month, which shows the sharp contrast in fortunes between Samsung and HTC.
With HTC’s redesigned hero device coming out in October, the company might yet right its sinking ship. Let’s just hope it takes a long good look at its Product Strategy when deciding what comes next.