HTC Universal Shipments: End of Third Quarter

[Darius Wey]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20050614A6025.html' target='_blank'>http://www.digitimes.com/news/a20050614A6025.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"High Tech Computer (HTC) will start volume shipments of its first 3G PDA phones by the end of the third quarter, CEO HT Cho said yesterday at the company’s annual shareholders meeting. Cho declined to reveal the client's name, but market sources indicated that the 3G PDA phone is a WCDMA PDA phone, the MDA IV, which was unveiled by Germany-based T-Mobile International early this year. HTC plans to launch one or two 3G mobile phones in 2005, but will increase the number of 3G handset models in 2006, Cho said. Cho also predicted that HTC’s handset shipments are likely to increase 30% on-year, to about 4.85 million units in 2005, up from 3.73 million units in 2004. In addition, the proportion of wireless communication devices, including smartphones and PDA phones, to the company’s total shipments is expected to exceed 60% this year, up from 50% in 2004, Cho asserted."</i><br /><br /><img src="http://www.pocketpcthoughts.com/images/web/2003/wey-20050511-HTCUniversal.jpg" /><br /><br />Just a heads up for those of you lusting over the HTC Universal. ;-)

[galt]

Any excuse you can find to post more pics of the Uni is fine by me! :wink: I wonder which other device they plan to ship in 2005?

[Raphael Salgado]

Just be careful of which company you choose (that brands the HTC device for their own). I predict i-mate will say in 6 months that it likely won't be upgradable to Windows Mobile 6.0. :roll:

[surur]

Here's an interesting stat. Nokia shipped 5 million smartphones per quarter last year, while HTC (a small Taiwanese company) shipped 4 million handheld devices last year.

This means HTC (a small Taiwanese company) has about 1/4 the volume of a Nokia in terms of advanced handheld devices.

I had not known the comparative scale is that close (less than an order of magnitude). With more WM partners like this I suggest Nokia starts seriously looking over its shoulder.

Surur

[gibson042]

That really is interesting. Go HTC! :clap:

[kinged]

It is hard to compare Nokia and HTC.

Nokia sell phones directly to consumers and carriers. It probably does not manufacture phones. It may purchase phones from HTC, Asus, BenQ etc.

HTC does not sell phone directly to consumers. It mainly designs and manufactures the phone. The carrier then sell the phones to consumers.

[surur]

I'm not 100% sure, but Nokia certainly has many factories, many in India etc. I believe they are a huge industrial conglomerate like Sony, and with such a huge market to serve it may be more productive for them to run their own manufacturing facilities etc.

Also of course I'm sure HTC will have its own ambitions...

Surur

[whydidnt]

The more I look at the Universal, the more I think I'm going to buy it just to usa as a PDA. It's pretty large to drag around for everyday phone usage and also doesn't support Cingular's voice or data networks very well. However, even without phone connectivity, this sound like the perfect WM device for my needs. I sure hope it lives up to the hype :!: :!:

[Phoenix]

I can't wait for this. I'll take one in black. 8)

Anyone interested in buying an Imate JAM (850/1800/1900) in perfect condition?

[andydempsey]

The more I look at the Universal, the more I think I'm going to buy it just to usa as a PDA. It's pretty large to drag around for everyday phone usage and also doesn't support Cingular's voice or data networks very well. However, even without phone connectivity, this sound like the perfect WM device for my needs. I sure hope it lives up to the hype :!: :!:

How do you know cingular doesn't support it? Just from the fact it is triband instead of Quad? 1900 is used a LOT by cingular in most of its markets.

[whydidnt]

How do you know cingular doesn't support it? Just from the fact it is triband instead of Quad? 1900 is used a LOT by cingular in most of its markets.

It's not that I don't think it will work on Cingular, just that I don't think it will work well. All new Cingular towers are being rolled out to support 850. To get maximum coverage your phone needs to use this band. But that isn't even the biggest kicker for me. For me the lack of high speed data is an issue. The universal doesn't support EDGE or EVDO, so in the US you'll have to do with slower GPRS or find a hot spot. That may be fine for some people, but I'm too impatient to deal with GPRS speeds.

Don't get me wrong, this is an awesome device. It's just that it's not really being built for the US market. I don't blame HTC, the US and it's mobile operators are a bit different than the rest of the world.

[galt]

But that isn't even the biggest kicker for me. For me the lack of high speed data is an issue. The universal doesn't support EDGE or EVDO, so in the US you'll have to do with slower GPRS or find a hot spot. That may be fine for some people, but I'm too impatient to deal with GPRS speeds.

Don't get me wrong, this is an awesome device. It's just that it's not really being built for the US market. I don't blame HTC, the US and it's mobile operators are a bit different than the rest of the world.

That's a good point - while I'm already willing to import a Universal just to make use of its GPRS capabilities on T-mobile USA's network, I'd prefer to have a US carrier offer a version of the Universal (w/wifi &amp; camera intact) but either w/out the useless UMTS capabilities or one compatible w/a US carriers high-speed network.

Has anyone heard any whispering that a US carrier might pick up a version of this? Or is that sound just the hopeful wishes of thousands of PPC fans?

[Darius Wey]

For me the lack of high speed data is an issue. The universal doesn't support EDGE or EVDO, so in the US you'll have to do with slower GPRS or find a hot spot. That may be fine for some people, but I'm too impatient to deal with GPRS speeds.

I wouldn't have the fanciest clue about what networks are available in the USA, but I take it the UMTS support is not enough of an enticing factor?

[whydidnt]

I wouldn't have the fanciest clue about what networks are available in the USA, but I take it the UMTS support is not enough of an enticing factor?

Unfortunately, it's not available from any national carrier. I know Cingular rolled out some sort of UMTS or HSPA, or something like that in one or two cities last year, but that's it. In the US we have EVDO, which sounds great, but is somewhat limited in availabilty and EDGE, not near as fast, but useable and widely available on Cingular's network.

Sprint just announced EVDO support in around 150 major metropolitan areas, so things are looking up somewhat. :D

[Janak Parekh]

In the US we have EVDO, which sounds great, but is somewhat limited in availabilty and EDGE, not near as fast, but useable and widely available on Cingular's network.
Yeah, that's the problem with upgrading the US. It just costs tons of money, so wireless carriers are doing it incrementally.

Fortunately, in CDMA land 1xEV-DO gracefully downgrades to 1xRTT, which is actually surprisingly useable for many tasks. And I think a few years will make a world of a difference.

--janak

[MitchellO]

I wonder how much it will cost when it is released, and when it will come to Australia. Otherwise I just may have to import one.....

[Darius Wey]

Unfortunately, it's not available from any national carrier. I know Cingular rolled out some sort of UMTS or HSPA, or something like that in one or two cities last year, but that's it. In the US we have EVDO, which sounds great, but is somewhat limited in availabilty and EDGE, not near as fast, but useable and widely available on Cingular's network.

Ah, I see. I guess cost is a big issue over there. With most European countries, the land coverage is small, so an upgrade rollout isn't too much of a blow on the budget. The same can be said for Australia, where although the land is big, a high percentage of the population resides in the main urban centres, so to cater for most of the population, you only need to upgrade the developed areas. Not the same can be said for the USA which has city after city from the west to east coast. I guess UMTS, EVDO, and EDGE is just something we've taken for granted.

[Darius Wey]

I wonder how much it will cost when it is released, and when it will come to Australia. Otherwise I just may have to import one.....

If i-mate or O2 releases it, then you can probably expect it to start selling under Telstra (at an apocalyptic price) or through department stores such as HT, Megamart, Harvey Norman, etc. I wouldn't be surprised if Australia started selling it this year. If not, and you want to get your hands on it early, Expansys or eBay may be your best bet.

[MitchellO]

Yeah, ebay is the best. I got my Mini for AU$945 when they were still $1199 at the shops (most didn't even have stock anyway).

Telstra are WAY to expensive in their plans. I have a $30 telstra plan and it is super expensive.

I will definately look for it on eBay when it comes out, and hopefully I will have the money (being 15 and doing freelance video editing makes income a bit "here and there").

[bothari]

It is hard to compare Nokia and HTC.

Nokia sell phones directly to consumers and carriers. It probably does not manufacture phones. It may purchase phones from HTC, Asus, BenQ etc.

HTC does not sell phone directly to consumers. It mainly designs and manufactures the phone. The carrier then sell the phones to consumers.

Nokia designs, *builds* and sells it's own phones. It does sub-contract the manufacture of some of it's phones but they're mostly done in Nokia's own shops.

Comparing Nokia to HTC is somewhat like comparing Microsoft to a Linux distribuitor (Like RedHat). Yes, Nokia does have to keep an eye on it but direct comparisons are (at the current point in time) somewhat meaningless due to diferences not only in size but marketshare and mindshare as well.

As to Nokia's sale channels compared to HTC's sale channels: Nokia sells most of it's phones through carriers, only a small percentage is sold directly. HTC sells almost every device to re-branders (such as qtek and i-mate) which themselves sell far more devices direct to consumers than through carriers.

So even here the comparison is somewhat dificult to achieve...

[billuk]

Does anyone know if it will it be offered by QTEC or I-Jam or will the phone be tied to a network provider (ie T-Mobile as the MDA IV)?

Yours in anticipation

Bill, UK

[whydidnt]

Does anyone know if it will it be offered by QTEC or I-Jam or will the phone be tied to a network provider (ie T-Mobile as the MDA IV)?


Well, we know the initial release will be as the MDA IV from T-Mobile. However, HTC has said it will be available via other channels shortly thereafter. I think it's safe to surmise that it will be released by the usual HTC players such as i-mate and QTek at some point. i-mate so much as said so when they indicated they were working on several new WM 5 devices instead of upgrading the PDA2k.