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HTC will be launching its U Ultra and U Play smartphones in India in the next six-eight weeks. Though the company hasn’t disclosed the price of these two smartphones, but considering that the U Ultra is the flagship smartphone, it is likely to come with a premium price tag. The smartphone sells in the US for $749, Rs 51,000 approximately.
In an interview with BGR India , HTC’s South Asia President Faisal Siddiqui shed light on the company’s roadmap for India in 2017. While HTC has already confirmed that it will be releasing just six to seven smartphones this year, Siddiqui revealed that all of these smartphones will be available in India. Without divulging a timeline for the launches, he further said that some of these smartphones will be introduced in India before anywhere in the global market.
HTC’s new U Ultra and U Play smartphones focus on design, multimedia and AI to enhance user experience. The device features a 3D glass design and are equipped with an AI assistant that caters to the users’ needs using machine learning. The U Ultra features a 5.7-inch QHD display, plus a secondary display to show alerts. It also features a Snapdragon 821 quad-core chipset, 4GB of RAM, 64GB onboard storage, 12-megapixel UltraPixel rear camera, 16-megapixel selfie camera, and it runs on Android 7.0 Nougat.
The HTCU Play, on the other hand, is touted as an affordable variant of the flagship smartphone, though its official price is not out yet. It features a 5.2-inch 1080p display, MediaTek Helio octa-core processor, 3GB/4GB of RAM, 32GB/64GB storage options, 16-megapixel rear camera, 16-megapixel front camera, and it runs on Android 7.0 Nougat.
Commenting on the trend of consumers’ growing interest in high-specced affordable smartphones, Siddiqui said that HTC has no intentions of aggressively targeting the Rs 10,000 market in India. “We want to stay in Rs 10,000 segments and above, but we will play very strongly with a select portfolio and aim at right price points. We don’t have to launch 20 products to increase our base. If we can target the sweet spots with products having right performance, we can do pretty well in the market,” he added.
When asked about HTC’s performance in India over the years, Siddiqui said, “Our business grew in 2015 and 2016 in terms of units as well as revenues. Average selling price (ASP) has increased as well. We anticipate to have the same growth in 2017 and are hoping to have higher share and revenue over the last year. Our ASP will be higher as we will not be playing the Rs 10,000 game. Moreover, we have invested in expanding our distribution and service networks along with the local team, and this will continue in 2017.”
On Make in India plans, Siddiqui added that the company has entered into a partnership with GDN Enterprise to manufacture products at the latter’s Noida plant, which is an SDK unit. He further said that HTC has been manufacturing phones at the Noida plant for last 18 months.
HTC U Ultra, U Play smartphones to launch in India in next 6-8 weeks
In an interview with BGR India , HTC’s South Asia President Faisal Siddiqui shed light on the company’s roadmap for India in 2017. While HTC has already confirmed that it will be releasing just six to seven smartphones this year, Siddiqui revealed that all of these smartphones will be available in India. Without divulging a timeline for the launches, he further said that some of these smartphones will be introduced in India before anywhere in the global market.
HTC’s new U Ultra and U Play smartphones focus on design, multimedia and AI to enhance user experience. The device features a 3D glass design and are equipped with an AI assistant that caters to the users’ needs using machine learning. The U Ultra features a 5.7-inch QHD display, plus a secondary display to show alerts. It also features a Snapdragon 821 quad-core chipset, 4GB of RAM, 64GB onboard storage, 12-megapixel UltraPixel rear camera, 16-megapixel selfie camera, and it runs on Android 7.0 Nougat.
The HTCU Play, on the other hand, is touted as an affordable variant of the flagship smartphone, though its official price is not out yet. It features a 5.2-inch 1080p display, MediaTek Helio octa-core processor, 3GB/4GB of RAM, 32GB/64GB storage options, 16-megapixel rear camera, 16-megapixel front camera, and it runs on Android 7.0 Nougat.
Commenting on the trend of consumers’ growing interest in high-specced affordable smartphones, Siddiqui said that HTC has no intentions of aggressively targeting the Rs 10,000 market in India. “We want to stay in Rs 10,000 segments and above, but we will play very strongly with a select portfolio and aim at right price points. We don’t have to launch 20 products to increase our base. If we can target the sweet spots with products having right performance, we can do pretty well in the market,” he added.
When asked about HTC’s performance in India over the years, Siddiqui said, “Our business grew in 2015 and 2016 in terms of units as well as revenues. Average selling price (ASP) has increased as well. We anticipate to have the same growth in 2017 and are hoping to have higher share and revenue over the last year. Our ASP will be higher as we will not be playing the Rs 10,000 game. Moreover, we have invested in expanding our distribution and service networks along with the local team, and this will continue in 2017.”
On Make in India plans, Siddiqui added that the company has entered into a partnership with GDN Enterprise to manufacture products at the latter’s Noida plant, which is an SDK unit. He further said that HTC has been manufacturing phones at the Noida plant for last 18 months.
HTC U Ultra, U Play smartphones to launch in India in next 6-8 weeks
