HTC delayed launch of One M8 with Windows due to Microsoft's purchase of Nokia
The president of HTC for the United States, Jason Mackenzie, just gave some very interesting statements on CNET about the HTC One M8 In them he points out, among other things, that what motivated them to launch the device was the fact that they saw an empty space in the range of Windows Phone, a lack of a flagship phone to match the most powerful Android smartphones, and they felt they could fill that gap with the One M8."
The most interesting thing about Mackenzie's interview, however, is her statement that HTC h alted its development plans for Windows Phones at the time when Microsoft announced the purchase of the devices division of NokiaUncertain about what Redmond's future relationship with the newly acquired division would be like, they decided to put the creation of Windows Phone teams on hold, waiting for the outlook to clear up. This uncertainty was heightened by the CEO change at Redmond, which occurred around the time of the Nokia purchase.
The sign that calmed HTC's concerns and convinced them to continue creating devices for Windows Phone was the layoff of nearly 20,000 employees announced by Satya Nadella recently. Mackenzie says they took that as a sign that Microsoft would not rely exclusively on the Nokia device division to create Windows Phone hardware, but would continue to work with other manufacturers such as HTC.
"Another factor that convinced HTC to launch a device like the One M8 was Microsoft&39;s new strategy to make it easier to reuse Android hardware to launch high-end devices with Windows Phone, thanks to Windows Phone 8 Update 1.1. With this, the financial entry barriers are lowered for manufacturers like HTC to venture into the Microsoft platform, since they have to incur minimal equipment development costsand can even reuse marketing campaigns, as we&39;ve seen with the One M8 being promoted as a single device available for Android and Windows."
Of course, the idea is that there are also manufacturers who create exclusive equipment for Windows Phone, specially designed for the platform and with differentiating characteristics , but given how complicated the current scenario is, it seems that Microsoft has decided to give up on this point for now as long as Windows Phone finishes taking off and reaches the long-awaited massiveness in all segments.
In general, the position of the HTC executive is very sensible, especially if we consider the complicated financial situation in which the company. If your company is in the red, how are you going to risk investing in a platform that has high entry costs, and where you don't even know if there is room for you? But now that the picture is clearer and porting an Android device to Windows Phone is easier than ever, let's hope HTC continues to offer quality devices for Microsoft usersfrequently.
The only thing I think makes noise in Mackenzie's statements is that Windows Phone lacks a proper flagship phone, considering the tremendous specs and design it offers today the Lumia 930, and that make it compete on an equal footing with the other high-end smartphones out there today.
Via | WMPowerUser > CNETImage | CNET
