HTC has 'disruptive' tablet and smartwatch on the horizon

HTC heads Peter Chou and Cher Wang, speaking in a joint interview with Financial Times, outlined some of the key components that will help make up the company’s roadmap. From the sounds of things, it’s new hardware and less Windows Phone.

Moving beyond smartphones, HTC plans to get back into the tablet space as well as the wearable technology space. Without naming names, HTC took a swipe at Samsung’s Galaxy Gear, likening it to a gimmick and calling it “version one” device. Chou indicates that when HTC delivers their smartwatch that it will be useful and practical in “people’s day-to-day lives.” Perhaps HTC brings to market something that works with more than a select few smartphones…

…it will be something nice and disruptive,” Ms Wang says. “There are a lot of devices to innovate . . . Ubiquitous intelligence is not just wearables.”

After a pair of not-so-well-received tablets (Flyer, Jetstream), HTC looks to be readying something new and unique. As Wang puts it, the tablet that HTC brings to the game will be “nice and disruptive”. It’s unclear when HTC plans to re-introduce its tablet however we’re anxious to see what else can be done with that sort of technology.

When asked about the rumors that Amazon may have tasked them with designing some Android-powered smartphones, Chou did not confirm the chatter. He did, however, say that HTC is “open minded to those kinds of opportunities”.

As for its future plans to continue making Windows Phones, we get the sense that Microsoft and Nokia want HTC more than the converse. Advising that “sales are small”, HTC needs to figure out the business side of things before moving on to positioning said devices in the market.

With the new year not far off we might look for whispers of new devices around CES and Mobile World Congress.

FT (subscription)