HTC Corp. reveals the Desire 816 in an attempt to increase its growth in cheaper smartphones

At the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, HTC Corp. revealed a lower-priced smartphone as the latest attempt to increase its growth in cheaper devices.

Peter Chou, who is the Chief Executive Officer of HTC Corp., made an official statement at a press conference saying that the new Desire 816 is expected to be available in China in March 2014, and in other countries – in April 2014. According to initial information, the device has a 5.5-inch screen, a 1.6 gigahertz quad-core processor and a 13-megapixel rear camera, as well as forth-generation LTE connectivity. The prices of Desire 816, however, were not revealed by the company.

This month HTC Corp. announced its expectations of its third straight operating loss, while the declining sales and increasing competition decrease its market share. The company posted a 30%-decline of its sales in 2013, which followed a 38%-decline registered in 2012. HTCs stock decreased by 8.2% in 2014 and was reported to have lost 90% since its maximum posted in April 2011.

As reported by Bloomberg, the company currently depends on initiatives such as wearable devices and releasing a new version of its One phone in its attempt to oppose to two consecutive annual revenue declines. At the same time, the Chinese rivals of HTC, such as Xiaomi Corp., push the market by selling smartphones at the price of 100 dollars.

HTCs Chief Executive Officer Mr. Peter Chou said for Bloomberg: “With the HTC One leading in the premium segment, its clear that theres a huge opportunity in the middle of the market. Many people want to have an affordable smartphone that does not compromise.”

This week a person familiar with the companys plans reported that HTC Corp. plans to unveil the first of three wearable devices at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona. The person with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be named because the information is not official yet, reported that HTC plans to demonstrate a smartwatch prototype, which is based on the Toq device of Qualcomm Inc. The company was also said by the person to be in a process of developing a watch using the Now service of Google Inc.

HTC Corp. revealed the so-called “compact entertainment hub” – its Desire 610, which has a 4.7-inch screen, fourth-generation LTE connectivity and a quad-core processor. According to an official press release by the company, the device is expected to become available in Europe in May 2014.

HTC Corp. rose by 1.93% in Taiwan to settle the session at TWD 132.00, raising the companys market value to 111.2 billion TWD.