Pictured above, the HTC U11 Life was a budget-friendly phone released in late 2017
There are still a number of possible paths to salvation for HTC’s flagging smartphone business (or at the very least, the once-revered HTC brand), and the financially struggling company might be readying its first step towards the most obvious solution.
According to an extremely reliable insider over on Twitter, the upcoming “Imagine Life” device, widely expected to be branded HTC U12 Life, will have its actual production outsourced. The name of the ODM (original design manufacturer) in charge of this operation remains unknown, and although we could be looking at a one-off cost-cutting measure here, we can’t help but recall the initial stages of BlackBerry and TCL’s partnership.
Before the latter became a leading licensee of the former’s brand, basically taking on all manufacturing, distributing, marketing, and designing duties, BlackBerry co-developed the DTEK50 and DTEK60 with TCL as a silent partner.
Again, it’s unclear if this is what’s happening here, but we’d be very naive to think there’s no connection between HTC’s purported decision to join forces with an ODM partner on the U12 Life and the Taiwanese company’s massive recent layoffs.
In other, perhaps even more distressing news, it seems the HTC U12 Life will be “shipped with Android 8.1 on board.” That may not sound so terrible for a (presumably) affordable mid-range handset, especially if we’re looking at a commercial release over the next few weeks, but keep in mind the U11 Life saw daylight last year running Android 8.0 Oreo right out the box.
Recommended Stories
We can safely assume the new phone will not take part in Google’s Android One program, which is too bad, because the specs rumored so far were fairly solid, including a trendy 2:1 6-inch screen with no notch, dual 16 + 5MP rear-facing cameras, a 13MP selfie shooter, and hefty 3,600 mAh battery.
Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.
Recommended Stories
Loading Comments...
COMMENT
All comments need to comply with our
Community Guidelines
Phonearena comments rules
A discussion is a place, where people can voice their opinion, no matter if it
is positive, neutral or negative. However, when posting, one must stay true to the topic, and not just share some
random thoughts, which are not directly related to the matter.
Things that are NOT allowed:
Off-topic talk - you must stick to the subject of discussion
Offensive, hate speech - if you want to say something, say it politely
Spam/Advertisements - these posts are deleted
Multiple accounts - one person can have only one account
Impersonations and offensive nicknames - these accounts get banned
Moderation is done by humans. We try to be as objective as possible and moderate with zero bias. If you think a
post should be moderated - please, report it.
Have a question about the rules or why you have been moderated/limited/banned? Please,
contact us.
FCC OKs Cingular\'s purchase of AT&T Wireless
Things that are NOT allowed: