HTC Teases Phone Announcement on May 23, and It Had Better Be Good

HTC built the very first official Android phone, known as the T-Mobile G1 in the US and HTC Dream elsewhere. For several years afterward, it was the most prominent maker of Android phones. Then came Samsung, which has now become the largest smartphone maker in the world. HTC, meanwhile, has struggled to stay afloat. It’s not giving up, though. HTC is teasing the unveiling of its latest flagship device for May 23.

HTC’s tweet offers little in the way of information. It promises a phone that’s “more than the sum of its specs” and includes an image with the aforementioned date. So, we can safely assume that’s when HTC will show off its latest smartphone. We don’t even know if it’ll be called the U12, but that’s the rumor. It may also just go by U12+, harkening back to the U11+ that never reached the US.

Thanks to a number of leaks, we have some idea what the U12 will offer. According to VentureBeat, HTC will have a dual-camera setup with a Snapdragon 845, 64-128GB of storage, and 6GB of RAM. It’ll sport a 6-inch LCD panel at 2880×1440 resolution as well. Even if HTC wants to downplay specs, these seem in-line with other flagship phones. The phone will also have HTC Edge Sense technology, allowing you to squeeze the phone to trigger actions.

HTC’s 2017 phone releases marked the first time it completely broke from US carriers. You could not get the U11 or U Ultra in any fashion except unlocked, directly from HTC. It seems carriers simply were not interested in stocking HTC devices following years of lackluster sales. It’s unlikely carriers will be anxious to get HTC’s new device, and that’s going to make it hard to have a successful launch. HTC desperately needs a win, though.

Coming Soon. A phone that is more than the sum of its specs. pic.twitter.com/m2skJSK0qt

— HTC (@htc) May 3, 2018

The company has been hemorrhaging money for years, resulting in the ouster of its long-time CEO Peter Chou in 2015. The company’s fortunes didn’t improve, even with the contract to build Google’s Pixel smartphones. In the last quarter of 2017, HTC lost $337 million. It hasn’t turned a profit since 2014. There were rumors last year that Google would acquire HTC, but in the end, Google just bought HTC’s Pixel design unit for $1.1 billion.

That might have given HTC more breathing room, but the U12 needs to be a hit if it’s going to stay in the game as a major smartphone maker. This will be the device that determines HTC’s success or failure.

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