HTC says it will challenge industry standards by launching HTC Advantage, a program that allows customers in the United States to receive bonus assets after a smartphone purchase.
Benefits of the HTC Advantage program will include one free cracked-screen replacement, a commitment to Android updates, 25-50 MB of free additional storage, and secure transfer of computer to phone content.
In a press release dated February 18, the president of HTC Americas, Jason Mackenzie stated, “In line with our history of firsts, we want to be the first to protect the investment customers make in our premium devices, and have created a new position of vice president of customer experience to oversee this commitment as well as the launch and evolution of HTC Advantage.”
This comes on the heels of a disappointing fourth quarter for the Taiwanese company, which included a projection of losses in the current quarter. HTC no longer ranks as one of the top five smartphone makers, having ceded market share to Android competitors Samsung, Lenovo, LG and Huawei. Last year, HTC America laid off twenty percent of its employees. During that time, Mackenzie wrote a letter to HTC employees stating “the most difficult day of my HTC career” was letting go of 30 of the 150 employees in the U.S. offices of HTC Americas.
HTC is expected to launch the HTC One 2, codenamed the M8, at Mobile World Congress next week in Barcelona, Spain. CNET reports that the device is expected to have a 5-inch screen, a Snapdragon 800 or 805 processor, and possibly two camera lenses to capture 3D video.
