‘HTC will soon come with a high-end Metaverse smartphone’
We put this news in the category, very remarkable, because nobody dared to predict (or dream) this. HTC is said to be working on a new high-end Metaverse smartphone that will be launched in April. We know this over the phone.
CryptoKitties, Salsa and the Metaverse
HTC’s new smartphone will not be a regular phone, but will have a specific theme: the Metaverse. This was noted by Taiwanese DigiTimes during the Mobile World Congress. The Metaverse should become a collectively shared virtual space, according to Meta, the parent company of Facebook. You can then enter these virtual 3D worlds using augmented (AR) and virtual reality (VR). HTC of course already has experience with VR, thanks to its Vive VR headsets, so the step to the Metaverse sounds plausible. Yet the Taiwanese producer jumps in the deep end, because with a Metaverse phone it is entering the field of brand new technologies that are not yet available. have proven.
This strategy immediately reminds us of the blockchain phone from HTC that we reviewed in 2018, the HTC Exodus. It seemed as if HTC wanted to piggyback on the huge popularity of cryptocurrency with this phone. The phone even launched with the world’s first NFT blockchain game called CryptoKitties. And what about the two Facebook phones announced at the 2011 Mobile World Congress? They are all phones that were launched with a specific feature. HTC may have hoped that this would enable it to distinguish itself sufficiently from the competition. Unfortunately, we now know that it failed.
Is this HTC’s comeback?
If we believe the rumors tomorrow, it will therefore reclaim its place in the smartphone market with a real Metaverse phone. That phone is part of Viverse, and that’s HTC’s take on the Metaverse. HTC CEO Charles Huang indicates that HTC plans to integrate certain Metaverse functions in the new top smartphone, which will be presented in April. Apparently its main purpose is to appeal to consumers who want to use the phone for VR and AR applications. The CEO does not disclose exactly what that will look like. At the same time, it is unclear whether it is actually a really high-end device. In any case, Huang denies that HTC will stop making smartphones. More than four years ago, HTC sold a large part of its smartphone division to Google.
Cher Wang, co-founder and now CEO of HTC, says HTC plans to continue investing heavily in the virtual reality product market. The company mainly focuses on the business market. The Metaverse phone will then become part of HTC’s developments in VR. However, we do not expect a real comeback from HTC on the smartphone market.
Is the Metaverse smartphone coming to Europe?
Whether the new Metaverse smartphone from HTC will also be offered in Europe is still completely unclear at the moment. The HTC Exodus was the last high-end smartphone from the manufacturer. This was followed by a number of midrange phones such as the HTC Desire 20 Pro and the HTC U12 Life. And we’ll never forget: The first Android device to ever hit the market came from HTC. That was the HTC Dream, also known as T-Mobile G1.
