Samsung to join HTC in major Android push in Q3

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Samsung to join HTC in major Android push in Q3

By CAROLINE GABRIEL

Published: 7 April, 2009

READ MORE: HTC | Samsung

HTC has enjoyed an unexpectedly long period of being the only Android handset maker with a carrier deal, with T-Mobile for G1/Dream and now, as it launches Magic, with Vodafone and others. It will seek to add further models and operator partnerships before rivals enter the game, notably Samsung, which is promising three models in the third quarter, at least one of them also launching at T-Mobile USA.

HTC will be particularly eager to ramp up sales of its Android models ahead of Samsung's debut (and those of Sony Ericsson, Motorola and Huawei, expected to ship handsets for the Google platform in the fall), given its disappointing first quarter profit figures, which were blamed partly on delays in shipping a key product. Although the Taiwanese vendor has not identified the product, and is in the process of rolling out new Windows-based phones as well as Android ones, many reports say it is the Magic, co-developed with Vodafone.

The Magic was expected to debut at Vodafone, and shortly afterwards at T-Mobile USA and possibly Orange France, this month. But it is now reported to be delayed until May 1 at Vodafone, though this could be pushed out further, if some software and "cosmetic" enhancements are not made in time. HTC has only shown prototypes at recent shows such as Mobile World Congress and CTIA Wireless, and these have not featured the rounded buttons that are visible in official Vodafone press releases previewing the handset. The idea that these buttons may be the source of the delay was reinforced by HTC responses to questions from gadget site Pocket-Lint.com, which cited "last minute hardware changes".

In its first quarter, HTC's net profit fell by 30% year-on-year to NT$4.89bn ($146.7m), with economic slowdown the other factor. Revenue fell 3.4% to NT$31.59bn, which was short of forecasts because of the delays. Analysts are predicting a sharp rebound in the current quarter, with Vincent Liao of KGI Securities forecasting a revenue increase of 10% from Q1 to Q2, and 20% growth in Q3.

Meanwhile, T-Mobile USA is also looking to build on its Android advantage while it remains the only supplier of the platform in the US, but has Sprint biting at its heels. The German-owned carrier will launch a home phone and a tablet PC based on Android, according to The New York Times, though neither will ship to customers until early next year. The home phone will plug into a docking station and will have a coupling device that charges and synchronizes the handset.

More imminently, T-Mobile should launch Magic before mid-year, still ahead of Sprint's much anticipated Palm Pre debut, and the first Samsung Android phone in Q3. It is also rumored to be aiming to offer Huawei's first Android product in the third quarter.

Speaking at the CTIA Wireless show last week, Samsung's executive VP of global product strategy, Dr. Won-Pyo Hong, said his firm has an Android handset due for international release in June, and will release two further models, both to US carriers, later in the year. The first European partner is widely rumored to be Vodafone and/or T-Mobile International, while the US models will go to T-Mobile and Sprint Nextel. "Samsung has confirmed that Sprint Nextel and T-Mobile USA will launch the first Samsung phones in the US based on Google's Android platform," according to FierceWireless. Like AT&T's iPhone, T-Mobile's G1 is said to be generating far higher than average use of data services and apps downloads, boosting carrier revenue and stickiness.

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