HTC to Launch Vision and Ace Phones in Q4

Taipei, Aug. 17, 2010 (CENS)--High Tech Computer Corp. (HTC), a world-caliber vendor of smartphones, is reportedly going to unveil its newest models HTC Vision and HTC Ace in London, the U.K., in mid-September, both of which are based on Android 2.2 and expected to serve as the brand's sales boosters in the fourth quarter of this year, according to industry sources.

HTC Vision adopts Qualcomm's newest 800MHz chipset, a built-in 8-megapixel digital camera, 3.7-inch touch screen and slide-out Qwerty keypad, and HTC Ace is built with a 4.3-inch screen, a Snapdragon chip with a 1GHz processor from Qualcomm, and a 8-megapixel camera. Plus, HTC Vision will be the world's first smartphone installed with Android 2.2, which is updated from Android 2.1 with improved memory management and usage.

At present, the sources said, HTC has contracted Vodafone as its distributor for HTC Vision and HTC Ace, and has been in talk with T-Mobile on promotion of HTC Vision in Europe. Single-month shipment of HTC Vision is estimated by insiders at 200,000 units at least, mainly because of its recognition among telecom service providers.

Aside from Europe, HTC is also going to launch another high-end Android smartphone, which is also a GSM/CDMA dual-mode phone and uses a Qwerty keypad, in cooperation with Verizon Wireless in the fourth quarter of this year to explore the U.S. market, industry insiders indicate.

With increasing brand recognitions among consumers worldwide, HTC is expected to score shipment of 6.5 million smartphones, sales revenue of NT$70 billion and net profits of over NT$10 billion in the third quarter of this year. Whether the brand will further drive up the figures in the fourth quarter will hinge on success of the aforementioned three phones.

Worth mentioning is that the rise of Android has also benefited its advocates. Gartner's newest report shows that the handset operating system has outpaced Apple's iOS as one of the world's top three in the second quarter of this year, and taken over the No.1 position of RIM's BlackBerry in the U.S.