digg this story
add to delicious
After the announcement of the iPhone 3G this week, you'd think Windows Mobile heavyweight HTC would fire back with at least some sort of Touch Diamond or Touch Pro salvo.
But in talking to Digitimes on Wednesday, CEO Peter Chou lobbed what amounts to underpowered spit wads, putting the $199 HTC Touch in the ring with Steve Jobs' latest.
The bundled prices of HTC Touch handsets in most markets in Europe as well as Japan and the US are set below US$199 in part due to subsidiaries offered by telecom carriers, said Chou, noting that mobile operator Orange offers the HTC Touch free of charge on some contracts.
Hey, the Touch - or its recently released cousin Touch Dual - is no slouch, especially at that price point (at least it was until Monday). But if you're going toe to toe with Mike Tyson, you'd want your best fighter lacing up his gloves, right?
Probably just as well right now. The new iPhone is still in the honeymoon phase (even moreso since it hasn't been released yet) and any sort of major PR posturing by a competitor will just be portrayed as sour grapes or in the context of 'trying to be an iPhone' by most of the media. Better to let things die down a little and then press ahead with heavy promotions of your newest offerings.
The new price point definitely can't have HTC too thrilled though. You could get a lot of their units at that price via subsidies. But this will put a lot of pressure on them to slash prices even more.