Update:27 March 2007. HTC Now have a UMPC: HTC Shift details
It looks like there could be some truth in that previous HTC posting I made because there’s also some very interesting HTC/UMPC talk going on at Howard Forums. I won’t quote anything here but have a look at this thread. There’s talk of an HTC universal successor (please Lord, let it have an 800×480 screen.) and the previously mentioned Athena project. Again, there’s the mention of the UMPC.
Something is developing…
Lets just re-cap on the previous HTC-related blog:
It is true that HTC will launch a UMPC-like mobile phone, not a pure computer. HTC’s top management came from Digital. Therefore making computer like products is not fresh to them at all.
There are already several UMPC products in the market by Samsung, Sony, Asustek, Founder Electronics, etc, for which the average screen size is 7 inch in diagonal, while the HTC product (project name Athena) has a smaller screen diagonal of 5 inch, implying lighter and better mobility.
We believe this UMPC-like phone is targeting at high-end users who want to use it as a smaller notebook PC, with phone function and increasingly popular broadband data transmission (through UMTS /3G or HSDPA /3.5G network, even WiMax).
We expect HTC’s own brand Dopod will be the first to launch this product. The shipment schedule has been moved earlier into Nov from 1Q07, with monthly sales projection of around 10k units.
If relevant comparison here, InStat forecasts UMPC market to reach nearly 8m units by 2011. As such contribution from UMPC like phone may not be huge for HTC. Nonetheless, the upcoming Athena launch heralds HTC’s leadership in smartphone technology.
This is extremely exciting…..for me!
Steve.
November 23rd, 2006 at 5:09 pm
You and me both. I am seriously in the market for an e800 replacement device. I still use it (exclusively in VGA) but it’s starting to show its age. And 5 inches of WM in VGA would be heaven.