HTC to sell its phones the Xiaomi way in Taiwan, starting February 4th

If you can't beat 'em, join 'em. On Wednesday, HTC announced that starting one week from today, it will launch a 24-hour online store in Taiwan where the manufacturer will embrace the Xiaomi way of selling hardware. The HTC eStore will commence operations at 10pm Taiwan time next Wednesday, and will initially offer two mid-range handsets. Both the HTC Desire 816G and the HTC Desire 826G will feature octa-core processors and dual SIM slots. HTC expects to add entry-level models to the store some time this year.

Xiaomi has been sizzling hot, tripling its smartphone shipments last year alone. The company uses eCommerce platforms along with flash sales to bolster its online presence. But unlike Xiaomi, HTC has long-standing relationships with carriers and retailers, and expects that only 10% of its sales in Taiwan will come from the new online store.

Other manufacturers have also copied Xiaomi. Sony employed Xiaomi's online strategy in Taiwan last year. At the beginning of 2014, such sales accounted for only 10% of the manufacturer's handset revenue in the region. By the end of the year, that figure had doubled to 20%.


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source: FocusTaiwan via GforGames