According to a new report from industry watcher DigiTimes on Monday, HTC is expected to ship 10 million 4G smartphones in 2011. The Chinese website claims industry sources have pegged 10 million as the probable figure for shipments this year, and the estimate includes only LTE and WiMAX-enabled smartphones. Both T-Mobile and AT&T have decided to refer to their HSPA+ networks as “4G” as well, but DigiTimes’ reported figures do not account for HSPA+ smartphone sales. The site’s sources state that HTC shipped 3.5 million 4G smartphones in 2010 — 3 million of which were EVO 4G units for Sprint and 500,000 of which were myTouch 4G phones for T-Mobile. The inclusion of T-Mobile’s myTouch 4G, which does not support LTE or WiMAX, is curious considering the site claims HSPA+ phones are not accounted for in its 2011 projections. With Verizon Wireless, AT&T and Sprint all pushing LTE or WiMAX hard in 2011, we wouldn’t be surprised if DigiTimes estimates end up being low.
