HTC has been delivering some very decent smartphones for some time now but it’s no secret that just lately the company hasn’t seemed to make quite the impact it was hoping for. Despite success with phones such as the HTC One X in the One Series, HTC hasn’t been able to make much headway against the likes of the mighty Apple or Samsung. Today we want to consider HTC and its need for Jelly Bean as this could be a way of keeping its devices alive for a little longer.
A recent ZDNet report tells how HTC earnings have dropped in its most recent financial report and that HTC is currently denying rumors of job cuts being made. However, the figures show that HTC is having worries as second quarter net profit was US $246.7 million whereas for the same quarter in 2011 the net profit was US $584.1 million. That represents a massive drop in earnings of 57.8%, which speaks for itself and it seems that some people are wondering if HTC should now drop the Android platform altogether.
According to WorldNewsResource analysts are questioning exactly what HTC has to come up with in order to get its fair share of the Android smartphone market against the other major players and the news doesn’t look promising with the launch of the Samsung Galaxy Note 2 coming up and also the Apple iPhone 5 on the iOS platform. Hundreds of reports that are currently circulating either claim that HTC devices have already peaked or suggest that the company never stood a chance of success against the onslaught of Samsung Android Galaxy devices, which seems rather harsh to be fair. Apparently some have even implied that the launch of the iPhone 5 will be the “final nail in the company’s coffin,” but we have to question whether that will really be the case.
It would be fairer to point out that every manufacturer struggles against the dominance of Apple and Samsung and it’s not as though HTC is not offering some very decent phones, such as the HTC One X that has been a big hit. Rather than abandon Android altogether, we’d say it makes more sense that HTC seek out 4.1 Jelly Bean as soon as possible, both for updating current devices and also so that upcoming devices can be launched running it. The Google Nexus 7 tablet will be the first device launched on Jelly Bean but other manufacturers who can come up with new devices running Jelly Bean that get launched in the first wave would have an improved chance of success.
Although we haven’t yet heard of any new HTC flagships on the way featuring 4.1 Jelly Bean, at least it seems as though HTC is keen to get on board with updating current devices with the latest Android OS. NDTV tells how although nothing concrete has yet been issued, both HTC and Samsung have issued statements with initial comments. As Samsung make two of the first two devices that are slated to get the Jelly Bean update, the Galaxy Nexus and Nexus S, it could be that it will also have earlier access for pushing out Jelly Bean updates although that’s certainly not set in stone. Samsung has said that an announcement will be made soon regarding which further devices will receive Jelly Bean.
The statement from HTC given to Android Central reads, “We are excited about Android Jelly Bean and are planning to support it across a variety of our devices. We are reviewing the software to determine our upgrade plans and schedule, so please stay tuned for more updates on specific device upgrade plans.” We would imagine that Jelly Bean will at least be rolled out to the One Series of HTC smartphones but again, nothing is yet confirmed. Nevertheless as HTC says it’s “excited” about Jelly Bean it certainly doesn’t seem as though HTC will be abandoning the Android platform any time soon.
It would seem that HTC has a decision to make. Whether to drop Android completely or dive head first into Jelly Bean? We feel that HTC needs Android but that it can’t use a half-hearted approach. Instead HTC has to embrace Jelly Bean completely and seriously attempt to come up with some really impressive devices that will launch using it, as well as promptly update existing devices to the new OS. We’re interested to hear your thoughts on this. Do you think HTC needs Jelly Bean too? Let us have your comments.