With so much competition in the Android market between stars like Samsung, OnePlus, Xiaomi and others, it's easy to forget about HTC. Without releasing a flagship since 2018, the Taiwanese brand seems to have almost completely disappeared from the smartphone scene. When it comes to messaging, HTC phones stand out only for their lack of ambition.
However, at the beginning of the last decade, HTC led the market in many ways. It offered phones with a unique design, a fun, distinctive user interface, and most importantly, great sound. But did you know that HTC owned a controlling stake in Beats Audio before Apple?
Here's what the HTC Beats partnership produced and why it was so short-lived.
The Beats acquisition
HTC attached great importance to the sound quality of the smartphone from the start. While other manufacturers were satisfied with a poor speaker on the back of their devices, HTC caused a sensation with the Desire HD in the early 2010s.
The Desire HD's speaker grille was above the screen. This made it difficult to cover no matter how you were holding your phone. At first glance, it doesn't seem like a game-changing decision, but for many users it was a game changer. HTC also offered digital surround sound and Dolby Mobile audio that could be enjoyed with headphones. Both were impressive features for their time.
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However, HTC wanted audio to be an integral part of the brand image. Give beats from Dre. In the late 2000s, Beats changed the market with its colorful, high-end headphones. The company's marketing has been relentless. As founder, Dr. Dre recommendations from many well known artists as well as product placements in their music videos. This made Beats products very trendy among younger populations, and that didn't go unnoticed to HTC.
HTC acquired a 50.1% stake in Beats by Dre in August 2010 for $ 300 million. The deal gave HTC the exclusive right to release smartphones powered by Beats software, which the Taiwanese maker appears to be most interested in. HTC allowed Beats to otherwise work autonomously.
Beats-powered HTC phones
The first Beats phone was the HTC Sensation XE. It was released in October 2011 and came with Beats earbuds in the box as well as the Beats Audio software that promised to improve the listening experience. Unfortunately, the HTC Sensation XE failed to impress the masses. It was a good device, and the Beats implementation didn't hinder its success, but it did little either.
Audiophiles and regular users alike were left unimpressed, comparing Beats Audio software to a glorified equalizer. On the flip side, reviewers often felt that the software only boosted the bass, which did little to enhance the experience of listening to certain genres like rock or classical.
Beats Audio software also didn't work with most streaming apps prior to the HTC Sense 4.0 update. This made it useless to those who had wanted to enjoy their favorite music on Spotify or Pandora for some time.
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Despite the lukewarm reception of the Beats integration, HTC had a good year in 2011. Unfortunately, things should get worse in 2012. As is often the case with popular products, Beats headphones saw a huge backlash from consumers who thought their value for money was not warranted. We're not sure how much this affected HTC on a large scale, but it definitely hasn't made things easier for the company.
The next Beats-powered flagship HTC released was the One X. While some still have fond memories of the device, it was a step backwards for HTC in many ways. I say this as someone who owned the phone and as someone who has been a passionate HTC supporter. The device had different versions by region, but the international version was particularly disappointing.
The One X got rid of HTC's signature metal unibody design and opted for polycarbonate instead. The device's rear speaker was overwhelming and easy to cover with your hand. The biggest disappointment was that in the US, Canada, Australia, and a good part of Europe, the phone didn't even come with Beats earbuds. Without mentioning the problems with WLAN reception that occur with One X handsets with the Nvidia Tegra 3 SoC.
So it was not surprising that the HTC One X was oversold and oversold by the Samsung Galaxy S3 and the Apple iPhone 4S. As a result, HTC suffered significant losses in the first half of 2012.
The beginning of the end
Financial losses likely led HTC to sell back 25% of its majority stake in Beats in July 2012. According to the Taiwanese manufacturer, the move should give Beats "more flexibility for global expansion," but we are sure that we will get back $ 150 million and HTC has not done any harm. The company still retained the exclusive rights to Beats smartphones and also used them for the following flagship.
The HTC One M7 and its two front speakers were very well received. Unfortunately, HTC was still bouncing back from last year when its stock fell nearly 80% compared to 2011. Apple and Samsung have also been much more aggressive in their marketing, pushing HTC further out of the market.
Beats apparently took the opportunity in September 2013, bought back all of HTC's remaining shares and ended their partnership. No reason was disclosed, but it's hard to believe that HTC's financial struggles played a role.
Life on beats
HTC somehow bounced back with the One M8, which is still known as one of the best phones ever. Announced in March 2014, there was no Beats Audio, but the sound quality was second to none. HTC's BoomSound software was used, which was well received by reviewers. The sound was crisp and clear, and no smartphone on the market could keep up.
In the meantime, Beats continued its rise. In May 2014, just a few weeks after the One M8 was released, Apple announced it was buying Beats for $ 3 billion.
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HTC continued its audio endeavors with the M9 and HTC 10. The latter had a dedicated DAC and hi-fi sound, but it seemed like the Taiwanese manufacturer's last hurray. Subsequent phones focused less on audio, with some even dropping the headphone jack.
Still, other manufacturers quickly settled in the niche that HTC had created. Google followed in HTC's footsteps and built stereo front speakers into most of its Pixel phones. Today, LG is the true successor to HTC as an audiophile smartphone brand. The Korean manufacturer's phones still have a headphone jack, as well as two speakers and a quad DAC, and are widely considered to be the best option for customers who value good audio.
Beats played a small, if important, role in HTC's history. Last but not least, the history of HTC's involvement with Beats shows that branding alone is not enough to be successful in the smartphone market.
This is the fifth post in our Did You Know That series, where we dive into the Android history books to uncover important and interesting facts or events that have been forgotten over time. What would you like to see from us next? Let us know in the comments.