Having struggled greatly over the last few years, HTC is making a serious attempt at regaining both its pride and the market share that it lost to Samsung and Apple. In its efforts to regain relevance in the mobile industry, many analysts have panned the company for being over ambitious in terms of features. UltraPixels, a feature that was supposed to help HTC outshine Samsung and Apple, has become a complication now. Analysts believe that it is this feature which has delayed the release of the HTC One to the first week of April.
HTC’s chief marketing officer Benjamin Ho claimed that the new HTC One camera is so unique and special that it is difficult to ramp up production quickly. Further, he added that the camera sensor has been specifically designed for the Taiwanese company. HTC didn’t want to rush things especially, if it required a trade-off between delivery time and quality. The HTC One, unveiled in February, was supposed to be released in March. However, because of supply constraints it will arrive only in three markets next week; the U.K, Germany and Taiwan, forcing a further delay in key markets like North America and the remaining parts of Europe.
The key aspect of the UltraPixel camera according to HTC lies in its larger pixels and also in an aperture that lets in 44% more light in comparison to the iPhone 5. This essentially implies the phone will shoot better pictures in low light conditions. However, mass production of such a sensor is arduous. Ho was left with no choice but to choose the lesser of two evils: risk the company’s damaged reputation by supplying a faulty product, relying solely on luck to ensure that it functions correctly or delay the product release and thus ensure that the product is delivered after its quality is assured. The latter was the obvious choice. This move will surely affect the company’s sales at a time when revenues are plunging and competitors like Samsung will take every inch they’re spared.
Ho’s confession on the One delays came with another admission, which revealed that HTC couldn’t afford to throw away its marketing budget on faulty equipment or products that hold the risk of failure. It remains to be seen how Ho and HTC’s team will cope with the time lost in the delay and whether the One will eventually turn out to be surprise hit many predict it to be.
