We’re not sure how many of you guys know this, but way before HTC was known as a smartphone manufacturer, the company used to be an ODM and would make devices for other companies before deciding to venture into creating their own products. As you might have heard, HTC isn’t doing so well as of late, and a new report has suggested that some changes are coming.According to a report from FierceWireless, they quote BayStreet Research analyst Cliff Maldonado who seems to believe that HTC is apparently planning on returning to their ODM roots, where instead of making phones for themselves, they might start making phones for other companies instead. We’ve heard how HTC is planning on giving up on entry-level phones, but to give up on making their own phones entirely? That does seem a bit hard to believe.
Maldonado’s report reads, “We believe the launch of the Pixel at Verizon and the Bolt at Sprint, combined with the recent headcount reductions, indicate HTC will follow more of an ODM business model going forward. We believe HTC has astutely restructured to compete with their hardware design strengths and partner with brands to lower marketing and distribution costs and overall risks. It will be interesting to see how and with whom HTC partners with next.”
Whether or not Maldonado’s predictions will come true remains to be seen, but if it were to happen, would you miss seeing HTC’s smartphones in the market?
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