HTC takes on teen market leader BlackBerry with Beats by Dr Dre
HTC is planning to target the lucrative teen mobile market, currently dominated by BlackBerry, by partnering with Beats by Dr Dre to bring high performance speakers to its handsets.
The phone manufacturer will be hoping the partnership will help HTC achieve its strategy of appealing to “everyday” consumers, rather than early technology adopters.
A line of HTC handsets with Beats audio will be launched in the Autumn.
Peter Chou, HTC CEO, says: “Beats has found a unique way to harness popular culture in a manner that is unlike any other brand today. It’s an exciting brand that has been built around providing something very special, and we believe our strategic partnership will provide customers with unbeatable sound on HTC phones.
“We obsess over every detail of a consumer’s mobile experience and audio is a critical part of that experience.”
Beats by Dr Dre prides itself on producing audio technology that lets consumers listen to music “as the artist intended”. The company has linked with several pop stars, including Lady Gaga and Justin Bieber, to produce limited edition headphones and speakers.
Adelynne Chao, research specialist at GfK, said last month that if HTC launches a low-cost Android handset it could take “a lot” of market share from BlackBerry.
RIM, which owns BlackBerry, had 18.3% of the UK smartphone handset market share in June, compared to HTC’s 16.4%, according to comScore.
