HTC was planning to turn
around its business this year by branching out of smartphones, but it appears
the company is pulling back the reins.
The company has cancelled
the launch of its debut wearable, the fitness-centricGrip. HTC has instead opted
to “align Grip with the entire product portfolio for health and fitness
launching later this year,” (whatever that means) according toEngadget.
The Grip we saw at Mobile
World Congress earlier this year might look a little different when it’s
re-announced this fall, which is interesting considering a fitness band from
HTC just recently received its Bluetooth certification. Perhaps that’s the one
coming out later this year?
The rubbery, lime-green
Grip, which the company partnered with Under Armour to produce, featured a
P-OLED screen and internal GPS so that you didn’t have to carry your phone with
you to log your workout. Aesthetically, it was very sporty, but functionally,
it wasn’t offering anything that really differentiated it from the many other wearable
fitness trackers.
The story behind the
story: HTC’s finances have
been the talk of the town recently, despite some of the more exciting projects it has going on. HTC's mobile business has been on the decline
for a couple years now.
For its part, HTC has
been pretty quiet this year. It launched the One M9 and then sort of faded into
the background as other Android players have advanced with their own flagship
products. Frankly, even if it does launch a family of fitness-centric
wearables, that won’t do much to put HTC back in the spotlight. It’s nice that
the company is trying to diversify its product portfolio, but it needs them to
be a big hit if it's going to balance out the losses from a reduced smartphone
business.
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