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HTC pulls out of tablet market in US

Taiwanese firm discontinues sales in region

HTC pulls out of tablet market in US
After releasing a rather gloomy set of financial results for its most recent quarter, HTC has announced that it is pulling out of the US tablet market.

The Taiwanese OEM has discontinued sales of all three of its US slates – the HTC Flyer, the HTC EVO View 4G and the HTC Jetstream - effective immediately.

Speaking to Fierce Mobile Content, HTC didn't rule out the possibility of re-entering the tablet market at a later date, though, with global online comms manager Jeff Gordon explaining, "we're watching that market very, very closely."

Muscled out

HTC's Q3 2012 financials show a company whose smartphone business is being squeezed on both sides, as Apple's iPhone 5 breaks sales records and Samsung consolidates its dominance on Android.

Similarly, HTC's tablets have had to compete against both the might of the iPad and new, low-price challengers from Google and Amazon.

Despite this stiff opposition, Gordon insists that HTC's tablet line "was a great learning experience for us, and they definitely met expectations."

Moving forward, HTC is aligning its smartphone business with Microsoft's mobile OS by producing the HTC 8X and 8S – otherwise known as the "face of Windows Phone 8."

Should HTC re-enter the US tablet market, commentators suggest it may well be with a Windows 8 device.

[source: Fierce Mobile Content]
Staff Writer

PocketGamer.biz's news editor 2012-2013