HTC, after bombarding the Indian market with smartphones catering to all price ranges over the past few months, on Friday launched a flagship phone as well as an affordable mid-range device. The HTC One E8 will cost just under Rs 35,000 while the HTC Desire 616 has been priced Rs 16,900.
Speaking to?indianexpress.com, Chialin Chang, Chief Financial Officer of HTC, said almost all its new phones, except the top-end One range, are now made keeping the Indian consumer in mind. “It is because India is not only an important market, but also a very strategic one for us,” he said. Chang said HTC knew that not everyone could afford the flagship phones and that was why it was launching phones offering great design and experience at lower price points too.
Asked what it thinks of the competition from global players like Asus and Motorola which were launching smartphones at very affordable prices in India, Chang explained: “We understand the competiton. But we are here for the long term and believe in delivering on our brand promise and experience.”
The HTC One (E8) is a stylish lightweight device that reminds one of the HTC One. The phone comes with Motion Launch, HTC BoomSound and a 5MP front-facing and 13MP rear-facing camera. The 5-inch phone is powered by a top of the line 2.5 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor with 2GB of RAM and 16GB of onboard memory. It comes with a 2600 mAh battery.
The HTC Desire 616 dual sim also has a 5-inch screen, but is powered by a 1.4GHz octa-core processor with 1GB RAM and 4GB onboard storage. The phone has a 8MP rear camera and 2MP front camera.?
