HTC 10 price in India slashed to Rs 47,990, still more expensive than the Samsung Galaxy S7

HTC has given its flagship smartphone a price cut in India. But it has completely missed the point as the smartphone is still more expensive than the likes of Samsung Galaxy S7, and LG G5 among others.

As the festive season approaches, smartphone makers announce ‘heavy’ discounts on their premium handsets, hoping for consumers to finally make the purchase they have been planning to make since long. Add to it the frenzy around the new flagship devices like the Apple iPhone 7, iPhone 7 Plus and the Google Pixel, Pixel XL phones, and you have less prominent manufacturers scrambling for attention. HTC 10, which was announced way back in May at a price of Rs 52,990, is now available in India at Rs 47,990. The flagship smartphone boasts an impressive metal design, Quad HD display, USB Type-C port for charging and data exchange, and a 12 megapixel rear camera sensor that supports 4K video recording. Powered by hardware which was said to be the best hardware one could expect from a high-end device at that time, the HTC 10 features a Qualcomm’s 64-bit Snapdragon 820 quad-core chipset coupled with 4GB of RAM and Adreno 530 GPU.

An eye-pleasing appearance, impressive audio quality, and a decent camera module made the HTC 10 the best flagship by HTC in a long time. However, marring its absolute brilliance was a price tag considered too hefty along with a display that could not brighten up HTC’s fortunes as much. At a lower price point, Samsung is offering its Galaxy S7 with top-of-the-line specs and features like water and dust resistance. There is also the Galaxy S7 edge, a slightly more expensive variant with a dual-edge curved display. When you consider the announcement of the Google Pixel and Pixel XL smartphones, and the India debut of the Apple iPhone 7 and iPhone 7 Plus last week, the price cut on the HTC 10 is hardly surprising. But is it enough for HTC to maintain or rather achieve a stronghold in a market where newer players such as China-based Xiaomi and OnePlus are offering devices with premium features at a competitive price?

With a price drop of not even Rs 5,000 (Rs 4,910 to be precise), HTC misses the point altogether at a time when competing devices like the LG G5 and OnePlus 3 are offered at Rs 47,990 and Rs 27,990 respectively, which promise innovative designing and features. The LG G5, touted as one of the first commercially available modular phones features a customizable design. By using modules like the CAM Plus, and the LG 360 CAM, users can enhance the existing features of the smartphone. Meanwhile, the OnePlus 3 – the ‘flagship killer’ – turned out to be the beast of a premium smartphone, beating the likes of iPhone 6s and HTC 10. With a metal and glass structure, the phone is not only as thick as the iPhone 6s Plus but with top-of-the-line features like a 16 megapixel Sony sensor, 4K video support, a mammoth 6GB of RAM with Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor, it puts to rest all doubts about a premium phone at a less premium price tag.

Although the HTC 10 features an older design, it does come with improved innards, and at least initially it was considered as a ray of hope that could revive the company’s fortunes. What failed was unarguably its pricing in a market like India which is still driven primarily by the pricing perspective. Before the Samsung Galaxy Note 7 ‘firegate’, the Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge were the perfect Android smartphone money could buy. With a glass and metal design, the Galaxy S7 offered a premium feel and appearance. Adding to the looks were thin bezels, a QUAD Super AMOLED display, a boosted battery power at 3,000mAh, and finally an option to use dual-SIM or expand internal storage with a hybrid slot. All this at a price of Rs 48,900 for the 32GB variant when it was first launched in March, close to two months before the launch of the HTC 10 at Rs 52,990. In a bid to push its VR goals, the company also bundled its Gear VR headset to initial customers who pre-booked the devices. The Galaxy S7 is currently selling at Rs 43,400 on Samsung’s online store.

HTC phones in the past have been priced out of contention in India and the HTC 10 also came as a pricey affair. Now, rumors are rife that the company is building a successor to the flagship smartphone that will follow the footsteps of the LeEco Le Max2 and the Apple iPhone 7 by dropping the standard 3.5mm headphone jack. Given the reignited innovation in the smartphone business, it could perhaps serve as a golden opportunity for HTC to restructure its smartphone strategy and strengthen its position in the Indian smartphone industry.

Source: bgr.in

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