Why Doesn't HTC Make More Quad-Band World Phones? I Asked, And They Answered

[Jason Dunn]

When HTC announce a new phone, it's almost always a European-band version, and when we publish information about it on our sites people will invariably comment that

Here's the question I asked to one of my contacts at HTC:

"Why is it that HTC consistently focuses on tri-band GSM devices? HTC typically releases a European-focused tri-band GSM phone, then months later, releases a North American-focused tri-band GSM version. Is it a technological limitation, or a marketing decision? And if it’s a marketing decision, is it driven by the phone carriers or HTC? Why don’t we see more quad-band GSM phones from HTC?"

And the answered I received from HTC was as follows:

"The initial models of Touch Diamond and Touch Pro have been optimized for European / Asian bands because HTC is launching with partners in those countries first. These models do not feature 850/1900/2100 3G as on many of our previous flagship models as European partners have now begun operating 3G on a second band – 900 MHz, and it is difficult to optimize for 4 bands of 3G as well as multiple 2G bands. The considerably smaller size of the Touch Diamond and Touch Pro compared to our previous 3G devices makes this task even more difficult, especially as many of our smaller previous models did not feature GPS. Additional models of both handsets optimized for other regions will launch in the second half of 2008."

So, reading between the lines a bit, it really comes down to size - and the number of bands each type of chip needs to support. 2G is limited to four bands in total, so I think that's why we saw a few 2G quad-band phones. When you look at 3G, however, things get much more complicated: in Europe the 3G bands being used are 2100 MHz and 900 MHz, and 1800 MHz is coming down the pipe. Australia uses 2100 MHz and 850 MHz, and the US needs to support 850, 1900, and 1700 MHz (T-Mobile's 3G network). So a true world phone would require five or six bands for full 3G support, plus the four 2G bands - we're up to nine or ten bands now. And you can't forget about the WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS, so you have to add antennae for those as well.

Now take all those engineering requirements and cross-reference them against consumer trends for smaller, thinner, and lighter phones with better and better battery life...and you realize that HTC can't do everything in one phone. Not today at least - I'm sure we'll see chips and antenna designs be created that will allow some convergence, but for now this seems to be the best they can do.

[Jason Dunn]

When HTC announce a new phone, it's almost always a European-band version, and when we publish information about it on our sites people will invariably comment that

Here's the question I asked to one of my contacts at HTC:

"Why is it that HTC consistently focuses on tri-band GSM devices? HTC typically releases a European-focused tri-band GSM phone, then months later, releases a North American-focused tri-band GSM version. Is it a technological limitation, or a marketing decision? And if it’s a marketing decision, is it driven by the phone carriers or HTC? Why don’t we see more quad-band GSM phones from HTC?"

And the answered I received from HTC was as follows:

"The initial models of Touch Diamond and Touch Pro have been optimized for European / Asian bands because HTC is launching with partners in those countries first. These models do not feature 850/1900/2100 3G as on many of our previous flagship models as European partners have now begun operating 3G on a second band – 900 MHz, and it is difficult to optimize for 4 bands of 3G as well as multiple 2G bands. The considerably smaller size of the Touch Diamond and Touch Pro compared to our previous 3G devices makes this task even more difficult, especially as many of our smaller previous models did not feature GPS. Additional models of both handsets optimized for other regions will launch in the second half of 2008."

So, reading between the lines a bit, it really comes down to size - and the number of bands each type of chip needs to support. 2G is limited to four bands in total, so I think that's why we saw a few 2G quad-band phones. When you look at 3G, however, things get much more complicated: in Europe the 3G bands being used are 2100 MHz and 900 MHz, and 1800 MHz is coming down the pipe. Australia uses 2100 MHz and 850 MHz, and the US needs to support 850, 1900, and 1700 MHz (T-Mobile's 3G network). So a true world phone would require five or six bands for full 3G support, plus the four 2G bands - we're up to nine or ten bands now. And you can't forget about the WiFi, Bluetooth, and GPS, so you have to add antennae for those as well.

Now take all those engineering requirements and cross-reference them against consumer trends for smaller, thinner, and lighter phones with better and better battery life...and you realize that HTC can't do everything in one phone. Not today at least - I'm sure we'll see chips and antenna designs be created that will allow some convergence, but for now this seems to be the best they can do.

[wmm]

Ah, bummer. I don't travel outside the U.S. all that often (once or twice a year, maybe), but when I do I want to take my phone and have it work. I guess I probably won't be getting one of these HTC models, after all.

Thanks for looking into this for us.

[Dyvim]

Very informative post. Thanks for asking and getting the answer for us.

[ianl]

Good that you got an answer to that question.

The other question: "Why does the HTC Diamond not have a micro-sd slot ?"

Anyway, the ETEN DX900 is due for release later this year. Not quite as small as the HTC Diamond but still very compact.

It does what we want here; HTC has not.

[efjay]

As posted on another forum, the SE Xperia has quad-band GSM and tri-band 3G and is slimmer than the touch pro. And its made by HTC with the same Qualcomm chipset. So how did they manage to do it on the X1 but not on their own flagship phone?

[aarcam]

Thanks for getting the answer to that, it is good to know.

I agree that this is frustrating to us the NA consumer, but I can see HTC’s position. Europe is much more phone centric IMHO where the states is entrenched in carrier based deployment.

I wait because I don’t care for a phone that has been branded (or crippled in some instances) to allow my carrier to influence how they want me to use my phone. Even with the wait, though I think it is well worth it. I still am able to get a phone that is cutting edge (for the states anyway).

[shoey5]

Originally Posted by ianl

Good that you got an answer to that question.
The other question: "Why does the HTC Diamond not have a micro-sd slot ?"

This was answered in a video interview with an HTC rep where he said adding a MicroSD card would have added an extra 2mm to the device, doesn't sound like much but if they were going for thinnest possible size, I guess that's why they didn't add it. Although would have been nice if they went with more models, an 8 Gigs and possibily higher.

For the limited bands, that's all fine, sucks if you travel but the bigger question, why couldn't they just release the North American version at the same time Ah well if we are lucky by the time they get to releasing the North American version, price on ram will have come down and we'll see an 8 Gig version for the same price.

[AdamaDBrown]

Originally Posted by Jason Dunn

When you look at 3G, however, things get much more complicated: in Europe the 3G bands being used are 2100 MHz and 900 MHz, and 1800 MHz is coming down the pipe. Australia uses 2100 MHz and 850 MHz, and the US needs to support 850, 1900, and 1700 MHz (T-Mobile's 3G network).

T-Mobile's new network also requires 2150 support.

[Menneisyys]

Originally Posted by shoey5

This was answered in a video interview with an HTC rep where he said adding a MicroSD card would have added an extra 2mm to the device, doesn't sound like much but if they were going for thinnest possible size, I guess that's why they didn't add it. Although would have been nice if they went with more models, an 8 Gigs and possibily higher.

They could have put it under the battery. With the meager 4GB built-in storaage, the Diamon is pretty much useless for multimedia (read: a lot of MP3's / videos) purposes.

[Jason Dunn]

Originally Posted by efjay

As posted on another forum, the SE Xperia has quad-band GSM and tri-band 3G and is slimmer than the touch pro. And its made by HTC with the same Qualcomm chipset. So how did they manage to do it on the X1 but not on their own flagship phone?

That's an excellent question! I was wondering about the issue myself of tri-band 3G but quad-band GSM - because the people in the US that want the 850 band, they want it for voice, correct?