HTC to bag 10% of local market share by end of Q3 2016

HTC South East Asia Director Rengeeth Nair, HTC South Asia and India President 

Faisal Siddiqui,  SLT Mobitel General Manager Isuru Dissanayke, Softlogic Communications Managing Director Ranjan Perera and Softlogic Communications Sales Director Rajeeve Goenerathne.

By Hiruni Dabarera

Following HTC’s entry into the Sri Lankan market by partnering with Softlogic in January, HTC expects to acquire at least 10% of market share by the end of this year, revealed HTC South Asia President Faisal Siddiqui.

HTC hopes to increase its market share by partnering with the local giant in telecommunication, SLT Mobitel. The global leader in mobile innovation and design yesterday announced the launch of a brand new range of smartphones to local users together with attractive packages from SLT Mobitel. 

The vibrant and youthful range of Smartphones include HTC’s flagship smartphone HTC 10-sculpted to perfection along with HTC One X9-the best in class, the trendy and youthful HTC Desire 628 and HTC Desire 630 with its urban street-wear fashion inspired sparks design and micro splash effect. 

“HTC wants to play to people’s personal tastes, their desire to be different and the fact that smartphones are now also a fashion accessory. Our new range of smartphones deliver the best of both the worlds, combining distinctive design with powerful processing capabilities, without compromising on features or specifications,” stated Siddiqui.

“We are hoping to provide HTC customers with attractive packages namely up to six months’ worth of data free and 450 minutes of free talk time from Mobitel,” shared SLT Mobitel General Manager Isuru Dissanayake.  

Addressing the gathering Softlogic Group Chairman Ashok Pathirage highlighted how HTC was the first company in the world to introduce a smartphone. “There are few points that we along with HTC has got right for the Colombo market. One is the amazing portfolio of products and next the most important thing: right pricing,” he elaborated. 

HTC, which was founded in 1997 is the creator of many award-winning mobile devices and industry firsts. At present it has partnered with global giants like Google, Under armour and Valve and continues to provide its customers with innovative and sophisticated features. 

In 2016 it became the first mobile phone to introduce the world’s first connected fitness system ‘Healthbox’ that gives daily equipment solutions for sportsmen. This venture which is a result of partnering with Under Armour includes an advanced fitness band, heart-rate monitor and smart scale that integrate, track and monitor vital data, activity, nutrition, weight and sleep of athletes. It is currently available in the US and European market and will enter the Asian market next year. 

HTC’s collaboration with Valve, a leader in 3D gaming with close to 150 million users, brought upon HTC Vive that substantiates HTC’s drive for innovation as it is the future of virtual reality. Currently there are 5,000 developers working on it and HTC hopes to invest $ 100 million for its progress in future. 

“Speaking of HTC 10, we launched this smartphone to customers to redefine perfection. It has a bold new look sculpted by light and equipped with a dual tone finish. It was termed as the most durable phone by Phonebuff and has 10,000+ resistance to wear, tear and drop. It also has the fastest touch screen and requires only 120 milliseconds to start the phone. It will be the world’s first phone to record videos in 4k sound quality,” said HTC South East Asia Director Rengeeth Nair. 

The HTC 10 will be available in outlets island-wide from 15 July priced at Rs. 99,990.

Pix by Daminda Harsha Perera