How to challenge HTC mobile giants
TELEKOM Cellular Upcoming HTC has the wind at their backs. Androidbestyckade Hero has become one of the mobile autumn blockbuster - and the sequel to reach store shelves next year. It says newly appointed Head of Sweden Patrik Andersson to IT24.
Not long ago HTC was best known for tech Windows Mobile phones, popular with business users and technology, small but very little for the general audience.
Google's mobile operating system Android changed everything. Now, HTC has expanded and has a focus on Nokia, Sony Ericsson and other well-known suppliers. Androidtelefonen HTC Hero also competes with Apple's iPhone for the title of the most talked-about phone.
In the middle of the steps industry veteran Patrik Andersson in to the company as a newly recruited Head of Sweden. His mission: Make HTC one of the major players in the Swedish mobile market.
- We are a bit of an underdog. I like to think that we are faster, the decision paths are short. I feel better able to make their own decisions. We choose ourselves on a Nordic level, the products we want to bring in and what channels we will be in, "he says.
It is the first time HTC building up his own organization in Sweden. Since he took office, Patrik Andersson has recruited ten people to the company, all the sales and marketing.
Top of the agenda is brand building, then building relationships with retailers, operators and distributors. The goal is to make the HTC as strong in the consumer market as the corporate side - a strategy which Androidtelefonerna Hero, and Magic is at the forefront.
Than competitors' advantage is large. In October, a low HTC's market share in Sweden in terms of sales around 7 percent, according to research firm GFK. Third placed in the market, Samsung is twice as large.
A wide range of products will reduce the distance. On average, a new Androidtelefon a month will find its way out of the market in Sweden next year. Half will be built on Android, the other half on the next version of Windows Mobile, released in 2010. A sequel to The flagship Hero unveiled at mobile trade show in Barcelona on 15 February and will appear in Swedish stores shortly thereafter.
- The big players on the market today are fairly aligned. I usually see it as five people standing in a room and trying to yell up to the processors and megapixels. We give ourselves up and start screaming about the same thing so we have no chance, then we run over, "says Patrik Andersson.
- We try to talk in a different way. We never talk about technology, specifications and megapixels. We try to highlight the user experience rather than the product itself.
Reminiscent of the rhetoric surrounding the Iphone. Like Apple tries to compete with HTC user experience rather than product specifications, and advanced hardware.
- Apple has been very important for the whole market. They have received the Swedish customers to understand that the experience might look very different compared to what Nokia and Sony Ericsson offer. Our product is closer to the iPhone than the Nordic suppliers are doing, so I think that is something that benefits us, "says Patrik Andersson.
- Is not to say that Apple is so dominant in the Swedish market as you might think. We have absolutely no plans to try to counterattack Iphone. It is important to access the 70 - 80 percent of the market as the Nordic suppliers stands for, "he continues.
Patrik Andersson was most recently the role of channel manager at LG, with a previous career including Fujitsu Services in your luggage. The contrast against his former employer is clear. He emphasizes that the time at LG was "fantastic". But the relief of moving from a hierarchical and tradition giant weight on a smaller, faster companies are obvious.
- Korea has a tendency to focus very hard in some markets. Then there is the risk that others are put aside. At HTC, we are building from scratch with a different strategy. We have no individuals from the parent company in Taiwan here, for example, "he says.
With the launch of the HTC Magic and Hero this summer HTC became the first in Sweden with phones built around Android. An important ingredient of success was undoubtedly the huge hajp Google managed to build around its new operating system - and the fact that no other vendors had time on the market in time.
- It is clear that it was important to be first. But while we see of course that other Androidtelefoner not been as good. I like to think that it is the combination of Android, our shell [HTC Sense] on top of it and a very nice product that is behind, "says Patrik Andersson.
source
Not long ago HTC was best known for tech Windows Mobile phones, popular with business users and technology, small but very little for the general audience.
Google's mobile operating system Android changed everything. Now, HTC has expanded and has a focus on Nokia, Sony Ericsson and other well-known suppliers. Androidtelefonen HTC Hero also competes with Apple's iPhone for the title of the most talked-about phone.
In the middle of the steps industry veteran Patrik Andersson in to the company as a newly recruited Head of Sweden. His mission: Make HTC one of the major players in the Swedish mobile market.
- We are a bit of an underdog. I like to think that we are faster, the decision paths are short. I feel better able to make their own decisions. We choose ourselves on a Nordic level, the products we want to bring in and what channels we will be in, "he says.
It is the first time HTC building up his own organization in Sweden. Since he took office, Patrik Andersson has recruited ten people to the company, all the sales and marketing.
Top of the agenda is brand building, then building relationships with retailers, operators and distributors. The goal is to make the HTC as strong in the consumer market as the corporate side - a strategy which Androidtelefonerna Hero, and Magic is at the forefront.
Than competitors' advantage is large. In October, a low HTC's market share in Sweden in terms of sales around 7 percent, according to research firm GFK. Third placed in the market, Samsung is twice as large.
A wide range of products will reduce the distance. On average, a new Androidtelefon a month will find its way out of the market in Sweden next year. Half will be built on Android, the other half on the next version of Windows Mobile, released in 2010. A sequel to The flagship Hero unveiled at mobile trade show in Barcelona on 15 February and will appear in Swedish stores shortly thereafter.
- The big players on the market today are fairly aligned. I usually see it as five people standing in a room and trying to yell up to the processors and megapixels. We give ourselves up and start screaming about the same thing so we have no chance, then we run over, "says Patrik Andersson.
- We try to talk in a different way. We never talk about technology, specifications and megapixels. We try to highlight the user experience rather than the product itself.
Reminiscent of the rhetoric surrounding the Iphone. Like Apple tries to compete with HTC user experience rather than product specifications, and advanced hardware.
- Apple has been very important for the whole market. They have received the Swedish customers to understand that the experience might look very different compared to what Nokia and Sony Ericsson offer. Our product is closer to the iPhone than the Nordic suppliers are doing, so I think that is something that benefits us, "says Patrik Andersson.
- Is not to say that Apple is so dominant in the Swedish market as you might think. We have absolutely no plans to try to counterattack Iphone. It is important to access the 70 - 80 percent of the market as the Nordic suppliers stands for, "he continues.
Patrik Andersson was most recently the role of channel manager at LG, with a previous career including Fujitsu Services in your luggage. The contrast against his former employer is clear. He emphasizes that the time at LG was "fantastic". But the relief of moving from a hierarchical and tradition giant weight on a smaller, faster companies are obvious.
- Korea has a tendency to focus very hard in some markets. Then there is the risk that others are put aside. At HTC, we are building from scratch with a different strategy. We have no individuals from the parent company in Taiwan here, for example, "he says.
With the launch of the HTC Magic and Hero this summer HTC became the first in Sweden with phones built around Android. An important ingredient of success was undoubtedly the huge hajp Google managed to build around its new operating system - and the fact that no other vendors had time on the market in time.
- It is clear that it was important to be first. But while we see of course that other Androidtelefoner not been as good. I like to think that it is the combination of Android, our shell [HTC Sense] on top of it and a very nice product that is behind, "says Patrik Andersson.
source
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