As HTC (2498) continues to lose market share to Apple (AAPL) and Samsung (005930), the troubled Taiwanese manufacturer is looking toward China to help stabilize the its plummeting sales. HTC is expanding both its engineering team and sales channels in China, and hopes to become one of the top two smartphone brands in the country by 2015, Ray Yam, head of HTC’s China operations, told the Wall Street Journal.
In the first quarter of 2012, HTC was No.9 in China in terms of market share at 2.6%, compared to Samsung’s 24.9% share. In the second quarter, however, the company tripled its market share from 2.6% to more than 6%, and is hoping to gain another 6% or 8% during the next two quarters.
In China, HTC will follow a similar sales model as it has done in Europe and the U.S., offering devices “around the same price as Samsung’s Galaxy and Apple’s iPhone,” rather than low-end handsets.
“I do believe HTC has all the elements for success…but we need to be cautious and we need to make every step right, if we make one wrong step, then it will take us a much longer time to recover,” Yam said.
