Part of HTC’s 2010 roadmap has been leaked by “B3ler3fonte”, member of the xda-developers fourm. The 8 new devices fall into 4 new segments that HTC will be targeting, in much the same way that Nokia (NYSE: NOK) or Sony Ericsson (NYSE: SNE) target different audiences depending on the product being marketed. In the “Design/Lifestyle” category we have “Legend”, the successor to the HTC Hero that we heard about over the weekend, and “Salsa”. Legend, pictured below, will have a 3.2 inch capacitive OLED screen, measure 111 mm long, 57 mm wide, and only 11.4 mm thick. It will have quadband GSM/EDGE, dualband (900/2100 MHz) 7.2 Mbps HSPA, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, a 5 megapixel camera, optical mouse, 3.5 mm headphone jack, 1300 mAh battery, and run on Qualcomm (NSDQ: QCOM)’s MSM 7227 which was announced earlier this year as a budget chipset for delivering sub $150 smartphones to market. That doesn’t mean the Legend will cost under $150 of course, especially with that OLED screen. Expect it to his the market in March 2010.
The Salsa is a budget QWERTY device. Due in June 2010, it will be crazy thin, only 8.6 mm. At 65 mm wide, it’s wider than the iPhone 3GS, and it’s also 115 mm tall. It will have quadband GSM/EDGE, dualband (900/2100 MHz) 7.2 Mbps HSPA, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, a 3.2 megapixel camera, 3.5 mm headphone jack, 1100 mAh battery, and run on Qualcomm’s MSM 7225 processor, the same one that powers the low end HTC Tattoo. It will have a 2.6 inch QVGA (320 x 240 pixel) screen, so this is definitely going to be priced to move.
Next in HTC’s roadmap leak we have the “Social” segment. This contains the “Tide” and the “Buzz”. The Tide, pictured below, is the first Android device with a standard T9 keypad. It has roughly the exact same specifications as the Salsa. Quadband GSM/EDGE, dualband (900/2100 MHz) 7.2 Mbps HSPA, 3.5 mm headphone jack, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, 3.2 megapixel camera, 2.68 inch QVGA (320 x 240 pixel) screen, 1130 mAh battery, Qualcomm MSM 7225 processor, all in a 114 mm tall, 53 mm wide, 13 mm thick package. Expect it to hit the market in April 2010.
Buzz looks like the HTC HD2, but it’s far, far slower and less impressive. It has a 3.2 inch QVGA (320 x 240 pixel) screen, 5 megapixel camera, 3.5 mm headphone jack, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, quadband GSM/EDGE, dualband (900/2100 MHz) 7.2 Mbps HSPA, all in a package that is 11 mm thick, 105 mm tall, and 60 mm wide. Again, like the Salsa, it will have the Qualcomm MSM 7225.
Now we’ve reached the “Performance” segment. This is the one all of you guys care about. The “Bravo” will be the only device in the segment in the first half of 2010 and it will be the first Qualcomm Snapdragon Android device offered by HTC. It will run at 1 GHz, have a massive 3.7 inch WVGA (800×480 pixel) OLED display, quadband GSM/EDGE, dualband (900/2100 MHz) 7.2 Mbps HSPA, 5 megapixel camera, 720p video recording, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, 1400 mAh battery, 3.5 mm headphone jack, and the same optical joystick as seen in Legend. When will this come out? April 2010.
The next 3 devices (“Photon”, “Trophy”, and “Terra”) belong to the “Productivity” segment, and they run Windows Mobile 6.5. The “Photon”, as seen below, looks like the successor to the Touch Diamond 2. It has Qualcomm’s new MSM 7227 processor, quadband GSM/EDGE, dualband (900/2100 MHz) 7.2 Mbps HSPA, WiFi, Bluetooth, 3.5 mm headphone jack, 5 megapixel camera, 3.2 inch HVGA (480 x 320 pixel) screen, and a 1300 mAh battery. It’s only going to be 10.9 mm thick, 104 mm tall and 57 mm wide. Expect to see it on store shelves in April 2010.
“Trophy” is the monoblock QWERTY form factor that BlackBerry (NSDQ: RIMM) owners all know and love. Under the hood we have a 3 inch VGA (640 x 480 pixel) screen, 5 megapixel camera, huge 1400 mAh battery, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, quadband GSM/EDGE, dualband (900/2100 MHz) 7.2 Mbps HSPA, Qualcomm’s new MSM 7227 processor, all in a package that is 11 mm thick, 119 mm tall, and 58.4 mm wide. It will start shipping in May 2010.
Last we have “Terra”, which looks exactly like the Touch Pro 2, except it’s all black and has a 3 WQVGA (480 X 272 pixel) inch screen versus the 3.6 inch WVGA (800 x 480 pixel) screen in the Touch Pro 2. You get WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS, quadband GSM/EDGE, dualband (900/2100 MHz) 7.2 Mbps HSPA, Qualcomm’s new MSM 7227 processor, a 3.2 megapixel camera, and a 1300 mAh battery.
Conclusion: What we’re seeing here is HTC getting into the low to mid end. They’re recycling old designs, and building them on top of new low cost, low end processors, and will predictably price these things to gain market share and build brand loyalty. It’s a bit disappointing that HTC isn’t going to be releasing more high end devices, but it makes sense since seasonally speaking the first half of 2010 usually doesn’t get a lot of sales. The second half of 2010 is a whole other story, or at least I hope it is a different story, because if it isn’t then 2010 will be known as the year that the industry took the smartphones of 2009, slapped on a new coat of paint, and priced them at half the cost in an attempt to get the smartphone sector to grow.
Mobile World Congress will be interesting.