Five Reasons Why HTC Phones Never Made It Big in India

The Taiwan-based brand is reportedly closing its shop in India, and these are the factors that led to its exit.

HTC and Google has partnered for various devices over the years. 

(Photo: AP)

When the news broke about HTC looking to fold its business in India, asking its senior executives to leave, it didn’t raise a lot of alarm. In fact, many saw this coming and now that it is reportedly happening, let’s talk about the reasons for it.

You don’t need to be a rocket scientist to dissect its demise, especially with the direction the Taiwanese brand has followed in India. In a market like India, where pricing of a product is the first and foremost criteria for a brand’s success, it didn’t really stand a chance.

When Google announced that it is acquiring the mobile division of HTC, in order to set up its shop for Pixel, everybody saw the end of HTC coming.

Here are few reasons that ensured HTC was never in the reckoning to become a top smartphone player in India.

Stuck in a Rut

After launching its first product in 2009, HTC has been lauded for its focus on design and innovation. Its range of flagship phones packed something different from the competition, and buyers liked what they saw.

Having said that, whenever experts were asked for their opinion about buying flagship phones, HTC was never to be a top three choice. And this became a regular drill, as buyers looked at other options like Samsung, Apple and more recently brands like OnePlus and Honor.

HTC U11 features BoomSound audio.(Photo: The Quint)

What did it mean for HTC in India? Top-end phones were launched, but at a leisurely pace and the company’s marketing efforts were almost non-existent. No wonder its phones are hard to catch hold of nowadays.

Affordable Phones But Not Worth It

HTC Desire 820s came with a large screen. (Photo: The Quint)

HTC has tried its best in the mid-range smartphone segment with a slew of Desire models, but to no avail. These phones were usually packed with sub-par hardware, compared with its rivals. Added to that, these were also priced higher, which meant these phones never had a serious bunch of buyers.

Granted, HTC never saw its play in this segment, but rest assured, its impending exit from the country is happening because it didn’t see eye-to-eye with the actual set of consumers in India.

Chinese Invasion Hits Everyone

Nobody saw them coming, but the Chinese influence on the market has been staggering. Most industry experts and even the phone makers themselves ridiculed their presence and claimed they are part of a bubble that’ll burst soon. Well, the jokes on those who underestimated the value of offering products that pack in more than its weight.

The Xiaomi, Honor and even OnePlus phones among others have ensured that most India-based brands didn’t have a flourishing business in three years time. The affect has been the same on brands like HTC and even Sony to some extent.

Xiaomi leads the Indian smartphone segment in 2018. File Photo: IANS)

For HTC, not catering to the affordable segment and putting in half-hearted attempts in the premium segment, virtually ended its scope to grow in India. You can blame the Chinese brands for undoing its work, but HTC has to take the blame for being myopic to such possibilities.

Wrong Targets

HTC’s general basis of communication has been devoid of clarity for a long time now. The company was adamant that HTC is a premium brand and will never enter the volume space.

In fact, Faisal Siddiqui, country head at HTC India, was candid about this approach in an interview at the sidelines of a launch. But that didn’t stop the company from making affordable phones that betrayed HTC’s belief in building classy products. This lopsided strategy ensured that HTC was no longer catering to the premium, nor to the masses with its entry-level phones.

HTC U11 is glossy in nature by design. (Photo: The Quint)

HTC could have looked at how Xiaomi decided to keep its core focus to products in the sub Rs 20,000 bracket, while OnePlus gradually started moving towards being a premium brand. And both of them succeeded in their respective spaces. But HTC, the brand, which was appreciated by reviewers across the globe, lost its sheen and brand recall.

The Pixel Phone Debacle

Remember the first Google Pixel phone? That was made by HTC and surprisingly, this phone never was part of HTC’s after-sales support in India. But sadly Pixel wasn’t the lone victim here. Most HTC phones were deemed unserviceable by many service centres across the country.

Google Pixel XL was a new beginning for Google and HTC. (Photo: The Quint)

There was even a running joke across the centres, where it was clearly written that no HTC phones will be repaired here. This spoke volumes about HTC’s seriousness in the after-sales market, which is essential for buyers in a country like India. You cannot operate without having authorised service centres, and HTC did the unthinkable for quite a while. Rest, is history.