HTC One in South Africa: operators respond

Very nice device. My first choice phone however remains the Sony Xperia Z. Sony got it right ... at last.
 
Samsung has a tight grip on the Android phone market - and they back that up with decent service and quicker-to-market Android updates. It will be very tough for competitors to beat them. Samsung will have to make a major mistake (epic fail product) to give away market share ... no matter how good the competitors are. I love the new Sony, but to compete with the highly anticipated S4 is another story.
 
dougatthewoods said:
For the Z that is believable. I've heard the One is going to be really expensive...
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Well, then HTC will pay the price ... They cannot afford to come in much higher than their competitors. The Galaxy S series is the standard for Android phones. Charging more that Samsung is looking for trouble no matter how much more you offer.
 
BeVonk! said:
Samsung has a tight grip on the Android phone market - and they back that up with decent service and quicker-to-market Android updates. It will be very tough for competitors to beat them. Samsung will have to make a major mistake (epic fail product) to give away market share ... no matter how good the competitors are. I love the new Sony, but to compete with the highly anticipated S4 is another story.
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By all account updates are all that for the average garden gnome Android user. Most are happy to keep the version that came with the phone forever.
 
BeVonk! said:
Samsung has a tight grip on the Android phone market - and they back that up with decent service and quicker-to-market Android updates. It will be very tough for competitors to beat them. Samsung will have to make a major mistake (epic fail product) to give away market share ... no matter how good the competitors are. I love the new Sony, but to compete with the highly anticipated S4 is another story.
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Well the S4 is due to be announced next month so let's see how it stacks up against the HTC One?

On the retail price, we'll let you know a Rand price when we have it.
 
HTC SA said:
Well the S4 is due to be announced next month so let's see how it stacks up against the HTC One?

On the retail price, we'll let you know a Rand price when we have it.
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The thing is: No matter how well it stacks up to the S4 consumers must get hit from another angle for HTC to make inroads. A direct spec confrontation will not win HTC favour even when it is much better. The Galaxy S series has achieved iconic status - like the iPhone - and people will go for that unless HTC comes with some very clever marketing over and above superior specs. Price, for one will be important. Else HTC will have to somehow convince the status sensitive consumers that its device is the one that WILL differentiate them from the masses (Galaxy S users). Sony's Xperia Z is standing out as such a candidate for me. It radiates class.
 
BeVonk! said:
Very nice device. My first choice phone however remains the Sony Xperia Z. Sony got it right ... at last.
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For Sony to get it right would be a proper specked Xperia Play 2 with proper battery life. Kind of stupid to sit on one of the best names ever for mobile phones and not doing anything about it.
 
BeVonk! said:
The thing is: No matter how well it stacks up to the S4 consumers must get hit from another angle for HTC to make inroads. A direct spec confrontation will not win HTC favour even when it is much better. The Galaxy S series has achieved iconic status - like the iPhone - and people will go for that unless HTC comes with some very clever marketing over and above superior specs. Price, for one will be important. Else HTC will have to somehow convince the status sensitive consumers that its device is the one that WILL differentiate them from the masses (Galaxy S users). Sony's Xperia Z is standing out as such a candidate for me. It radiates class.
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There's not doubt that that Samsung has a great brand and marketing spend to back it.

Still HTC has innovated with the first fully metal phone. Its enough to make any iPhone user drool ;) HTC's also innovated with some of the features on the phone too and there is a new version of Sense.

If you compare the two phones spec wise they are really similar although the HTC One has a Quad-core 1.7 GHz Krait 300 vs the Quad-core 1.5 GHz Krait from the Xperia Z. Oh and does the Xperia have stereo speakers?

UI will play a large factor and Sense is very competitive in that area.
 
I still love HTC. Just cannot love the plastic feel of Samsung.

Just sad as I ordered my HTC One X+ the other day (still awaiting delivery) and now this one is announced :(

My phone is old already!
 
HTC SA said:
There's not doubt that that Samsung has a great brand and marketing spend to back it.

Still HTC has innovated with the first fully metal phone. Its enough to make any iPhone user drool ;) HTC's also innovated with some of the features on the phone too and there is a new version of Sense.

If you compare the two phones spec wise they are really similar although the HTC One has a Quad-core 1.7 GHz Krait 300 vs the Quad-core 1.5 GHz Krait from the Xperia Z. Oh and does the Xperia have stereo speakers?

UI will play a large factor and Sense is very competitive in that area.
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If HTC can overcome 3 issues they might see me again.

1. Battery life - both my HTC Desire and Desire HD had the worse battery life I can remember. Do not dare using the phone or its charge will not last a full day.
2. Customer care. (At least they starting with this one by you being here) but I have heard way to many horror stories back in the leaf days to go this route lightly, and I need to see more like actual branches in maybe the main cities.
3. Also I had some hardware issues on both my previous HTC phones. HTC Desire suffered from a boot loop after the 1st year, Googling the issue showed that it was a manufacturer problem as loads of people got this. and my HTC Desire HD decided to go all wonky and display bright color lines horizontal over the screen in the 1st year.
 
Shads. We've used the One X+. It is an outstanding phone. You won't be disappointed!
 
AlphaJohn said:
If HTC can overcome 3 issues they might see me again.

1. Battery life - both my HTC Desire and Desire HD had the worse battery life I can remember. Do not dare using the phone or its charge will not last a full day.
2. Customer care. (At least they starting with this one by you being here) but I have heard way to many horror stories back in the leaf days to go this route lightly, and I need to see more like actual branches in maybe the main cities.
3. Also I had some hardware issues on both my previous HTC phones. HTC Desire suffered from a boot loop after the 1st year, Googling the issue showed that it was a manufacturer problem as loads of people got this. and my HTC Desire HD decided to go all wonky and display bright color lines horizontal over the screen in the 1st year.
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Lets go through these one at a time.

1. The HTC One has a 2300 mA battery, and HTC's said it should give a full day's usage even when used extensively.
2. HTC is in South Africa directly and is working hard on growing the brand.
3. The phone is the first full metal phone globally and has state of the art hardware so hopefully the HTC One will do well :)
 
Still extremely happy with my One X, and I'm sure that the One will be even better.

As most have mentioned, Samsung made an impact in the market with the S2, which was superior to most models in the same timeframe, and it's unfortunate that HTC doesn't get more attention - the general build quality of the phone, along with Sense UI, beats the pants off of the competition. Here's hoping that the One can grab some attention.
 
HTC SA, is there any word on how much support the One will get in terms of lead time after Google's release and the One getting it?
That is what made me go Samsung last time.

Any news to alleviate the fears of a dev. who likes bright and shiny new toys? (I have a nexus device for it, but would like to not have to worry about my phone trailing behind)

The design is good, but if HTC gets their accessories out at the same time as the phone it will impact my decision at least , heavily as Samsung had poor 1st party accessory support for the S3 (Still waiting for the official wireless charging solution)
 
Mike43110 said:
HTC SA, is there any word on how much support the One will get in terms of lead time after Google's release and the One getting it?
That is what made me go Samsung last time.

Any news to alleviate the fears of a dev. who likes bright and shiny new toys? (I have a nexus device for it, but would like to not have to worry about my phone trailing behind)

The design is good, but if HTC gets their accessories out at the same time as the phone it will impact my decision at least , heavily as Samsung had poor 1st party accessory support for the S3 (Still waiting for the official wireless charging solution)
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We can't answer questions on software releases here as HTC South Africa is not involved in those - they come centrally from HTC.

As to the accessories - when we know more about their availability we will post on the forums.
 
Support is going to be big, no doubt. If HTC fails here, the will not succeed. Sure the phone is great. Still like my HTC desire HD. Solid phone, even with a few bumps it has survived well. But when we got poor excuses for not updating to ICS, I'm skeptical on their support in future. Due to upgrade in a month or 2.
 
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