HTC To Launch Wearable By Christmas

In October 2013, HTC teased plans to reverse its fortunes by introducing a wearable device, among other products. Speaking with Bloomberg in an interview, the company's Chairman Cher Wang provided a bit of an update on this, saying it will launch a wearable device of some sorts by this upcoming Christmas, something that will be joined by an updated One and marketing revamp.

HTC has suffered from declining revenues over the past couple of years, something it hopes to pull out of with a renewed marketing focus, an upcoming HTC One update, and — perhaps most notably — the wearable device. The latter, said HTC's Chairman, has been the result of years of development and many technical issues along the way.

Said Wang during the interview: "Many years ago we started looking at smartwatches and wearables, but we believe that we really have to solve the battery problems and the LCD light problems. These are customer-centric problems." She also spoke about marketing, which the company plans to ramp up this year to augment its wearable and general product focus.

The company's Chief Financial Officer has been quoted as saying HTC is "positive and optimistic" about 2014 when contrasted with 2013. The company is set to hold an investor conference call on February 10. Whether the company will be increasing its marketing budget as part of marketing efforts wasn't stated, but Wang did say, "It's really not only the budget increase, it's the way how you spend the money. Is it smart? There's a lot of ways to reach the audience right now."

SOURCE: Bloomberg