HTC admits phones "could be better" as sales tank

Serves them right for rehashing the same specs over and over again. Little innovation over the last 12 months so hopefully they can sort it out this year

By EddyOS_2K9 on 6 Feb 2012

Even the spec's on the screen res of this are crap.
HTC's own fault they've been failing, they've been SOOO tight with internal storage they shot themselves in the foot by making EVERYONE get memory error.
Would have cost them like £5 or less to double it.

By nniillaa on 6 Feb 2012

Agree with everyone

I've been buying HTCs since the old XDAs and they were always innovators.The TyTn II, original Touch HD, HD2 were all great handsets but since then it's the same old kit rehashed.

My HD7 was pretty much a Desire HD which was pretty much a HD2.

All the designs look the same and are re badged and re released every other month.

By JStairmand on 6 Feb 2012

I Agree With Everyone

I fully agree. Yes. For the most part they are all sh'te. Cheap plasticy with mediocre screens and a p'ss poor implementation of a canned OS. Other companies are progressing elaps and bounds, and if it weren't for Orange's complete lack of ability to move into this decade, they'd have a far lower portion of the market than they currently do.

For a company's successes to be mostly be one of default, based on Orange's failure to move in the market, is pretty dire. The company is stagnant, and it will head the way of RIM if they do not innovate and differentiate themselves soon.

By mbassoc on 6 Feb 2012

Last time I checked HTC phones were available on other networks apart from Orange.

By halsteadk on 6 Feb 2012

Whats with this advertizing Orange

Nearly all phone operators are offering HTC phones as far as i can see Not just Orange.

By curiousclive on 6 Feb 2012

Laurels

were rested upon.
Shame too, because I would have loved to have been able to recommend an HTC* as my mum's first smartphone but SGSII won even with Touchwiz.

*I was suggesting HTCs to others up until the Galaxys arrived.

By dubiou on 7 Feb 2012

Plasticy?

I thought we were talking about htc here?

I went for a Sensation, because the iPhone 4 felt "wrong" in the hand and the Samsung Galaxy SII felt plasticy and flimsy. The Sensation, with its metal and rubberised back felt solid in the hand.

I do agree, they have too many Android models on the market and they bring them out too quickly. People don't know where they stand, which phone is better? If they buy now, will it still be current next week? With Samsung and Apple, they have a better chance of their phone still being current in 6 months time.

Fewer models also means reduced manufacturing and R&D costs. The R&D could also be targeted at producing long term successors, with real innovation.

@nniillaa Memory problems? What memory problems? I have an old Touch Pro, running WinMo 6, which had problems with Firefox, but I've never had memory problems with my Sensation or Mozart.

By big_D on 7 Feb 2012

Plasticy?

I agree with big_D, in no way does the Sensation feel or look plasticy compared to the Galaxy SII.

I've also never had a memory error with my Sensation (didn't with my old Wildfire either).

By Coltch on 7 Feb 2012

I've a Sensation and a Galaxy Nexus, and whereas the Nexus is infinitely better in terms of speed, screen, ICS, etc the Sensation 'feels' superior due to its build quality.

Just wish the ICS build for the Sensation wasn't so clogged up with rubbish

By EddyOS_2K9 on 7 Feb 2012

Big_D - You have their current "Flagship model".
All their previous phones before that had VERY limited internal storage.
The HTC Desire while a great phone had such shit small amount of internal memory that EVERY SINGLE PERSON I know was always asking me what to do about the warning sign that always came up after you'd installed some apps and used it for a while asking me what to do.
There wasn't much you could do other than un-install apps and with the "Contacts" taking up 80Mb you really didn't have much you could do.
It limited the phone to a TINY number of apps.

I sold it and bought the HTC Desire S instead which had more memory (a whole 1Gb - WOW HTC!! - Samsung were only offering 4-8Gb on all their phones at that point).

I do like HTC's but I just find they tend to be like apple and deliberately trying to hold back all the time.
They also just try to skimp and save on the pennies (lets give everyone 1Gb internal memory instead of 4 because it'll save us £5 per phone).
I'm sorry but thats the stupidest thought process ever on a phone that is £400+ when its such an obviously crucial part of the phone.

By nniillaa on 7 Feb 2012

@niillaa

I have a Desire HD user here (don't know anyone with a Desire) and he has had no such issues and is thrilled with the Gingerbread update he got last year.

Likewise, we have a few Wildfire users and they also haven't complained about memory.

The Sensation also only has 1GB of internal memory, but you can slap in a MicroSD card.

By big_D on 7 Feb 2012

App2SD

negated the internal memory shortage - it just meant a custom ROM for the older models (any techie could manage that).
I'm still managing fine on my 2.1 Hero, but don't have or need many apps.
The Samsungs have the flimsy-feeling market cornered, but a quality case solves that.

By dubiou on 7 Feb 2012

"Would have cost them like £5 or less to double it"

Even the cheapest SSD drive is £1 a megabyte.

HTC premium phones certainly aren't as "plasticky" as say the Samsung Galaxy S2 but their Sensation doesn't seem quite as desirable as that particular phone.

Hopefully HTC will learn from all this and regain their mojo.

By Lacrobat on 7 Feb 2012

No robust Touch Pro replacement

I can't be the only one waiting to replace a Touch Pro 2 with something better. The Desire-Z was far too floppy, and that was it. No WM7 keyboard phone, and no up to date Android keyboard phone.

By tirons1 on 7 Feb 2012

So nearly a great phone...

My Desire S is my first HTC, and my first Android device. Apart from really inadequate camera/video 'performance', my only gripe is with the OS. I also have an iPod Touch 4, and the user experience is streets ahead. Connect other devices and you soon find out that iOS and its hardware are vastly more capable. Not all HTC's fault, then...

By rgmfrance on 9 Feb 2012