The market is currently flooded with smartwatches and wearables, but there is nothing from HTC despite the fact that it had a prototype smartwatch ready at MWC 2014. So the question is: has it abandoned its smartwatch plans?
IFA 2014 serves as a huge platform for electronics manufacturers to display their new generations warez and many mobile and tablet manufacturers displayed a range of their smartwatches at this year’s show except for HTC.
HTC had a prototype to show at the MWC 2014 in Barcelona in February – a smartwatch derived from watch TOQ with Mirasol screen and wireless charging designed by Qualcomm.
Six months later, at the IFA 2014, the show passed without HTC unveiling any gadget like this – indicating that the manufacturer may have abandoned its development.
Stopping the project is not completely confirmed but reports from Taiwan hint at increased development costs and a lack of wow factor that would have buried the lead. Meanwhile, emergence of Android Wear with its comprehensive ecosystem possibilities and dedicated applications will make it difficult to market a single product.
Especially since the competition is fierce in the segment, as we have seen with listings of Asus ZenWatch, LG G Watch R, the Samsung Gear S, the Moto 360 or Sony Smartwatch 3.
And besides Apple Watch has already been unveiled and with its early 2015 release schedule, HTC will have one more competitor to handle if it does launch a smartwatch of its own.
