HTC is a world innovator and leading designer of smartphones. Since its foundation in 1997, it has custom-designed and manufactured mobile devices for several other companies such as Dell, Inc. and Hewlett-Packard Co. Two years ago, however, HTC decided to establish its own brand. The Touch handset was an instant success, quickly followed by Touch Diamond, a touch-screen phone similar to the iPhone, released in Asia in May 2008, which sold one million units in only three months.
The company's latest creation uses Android, a software platform and operating system that Google developed specifically for mobile phones. The G1 combines a full touch-screen with a sliding keyboard and comes preloaded with popular Google applications such as Gmail, and YouTube, as well as the tri-dimensional Google Map navigation, which the G1 is the only handset to provide. John Wang, HTC's chief marketing officer, is convinced the G1 will be as successful as the Touch Diamond.
Industry watchers estimate sales of about 200,000 G1 handsets per month by the end of this year. It is expected that more service providers will approach HTC once the G1 is released in the United States, and later in Europe.
According to industry insiders, T-Mobile is planning to order a total of between 1.5 million and 2 million G1 units from HTC in the near future, including 400,000 to 600,000 expected to be sold in the fourth quarter of this year. Some analysts forecast the G1 will represent almost 5 percent of HTC's sales in 2008 and around 13 percent in 2009. This should contribute over US$560 million to HTC's revenue next year.
T-Mobile USA is the U.S. subsidiary of Deutsche Telekom AG, the German telecommunication company, and is one of the leading firms in mobile communications. T-Mobile is the first operator in the world to launch an Android-powered mobile device. Working closely with Google, they developed an innovative approach to bring the open mobile Internet to the mass market. "The Internet and the mobile phone have become such essential tools in our everyday lives but only a few of us can access the Web through our phones. T-Mobile G1 will change that," said Cole Brodman, chief technology and innovation officer of T-Mobile USA.
For Andy Rubin, senior director of mobile platforms for Google, connectivity does not simply mean a phone call, but rather access to the world's information. For this reason he considers the G1 a significant step for the Open Handset Alliance since with Android they have opened a brand new mobile Web world for millions of users. The OHA is a business alliance of 34 companies that include HTC, Intel Inc., and Motorola Inc. Led by Google, it was established in November 2007 to develop open standards for mobile phones.
"T-Mobile, Google and HTC share a similar vision for making the mobile Internet practical, relevant and fun," said Peter Chou, president and CEO of HTC.
Write Eric Chao at clchao@mail.gio.gov.tw