HTC are planning a shopping trip. The Desire maker are on the look out for a proprietary OS, chairwoman Cher Wang revealed to Chinese media.
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| Bye bye Android? |
But it won’t be an impulse buy nor will HTC jump into bed with the nearest platform that comes running, the dedicated Android carrier says.
“We have given it thought and we have discussed it internally, but we will not do it on impulse,” Wang told the Economic Observer of China this week.
“We can use any OS we want. We are able to make things different from our rivals on the second or third layer of a platform.”
“Our strength lies in understanding an OS, but it does not mean that we have to produce an OS.”
The second and third layers of HTC Sense user interface gives handsets like Sensation and Evo more user-friendly features and better software integration, compared with other Android phones, meaning it can ditch the platform easier than rivals, Wang insists.
One of HTC’s advantages is its distinctiveness, allowing it make unique products on different operating systems.
At IFA tech conference in Berlin earlier this month, HTC pulled two new Windows Mango Phones out of the bag – HTC Titan and the HTC Rada.
The brand, part of the Android faithful, is looking elsewhere as just weeks ago fellow carrier Samsung also pulled back from the Google OS, launching several low end handsets of its home grown Bada platform and is said to be partnering with Microsoft Windows 8 for its next tablet, tipped for showcase this week.
Read Tab Uprising: Microsoft To Unveil Samsung Windows 8 Tab Here
This comes as worries among manufacturers grow after Google snapped up rival handset maker Motorola, although Wang insists it was the “correct” decision due to the mass of patents gained.
Reports also recently surfaced HTC was mulling over a buy out of WebOS, the system HP recently announced it would offload, although several other brands including Samsung were also associated with such a deal .
If such a HTC acquisition does go ahead, it will make for a somewhat queer situation, as more brands look offering multiple platform options.
Taiwanese HTC currently runs almost 100% on Android, between smartphones on Gingerbread and Honeycomb tablets and been seen as an affordable player in the space, contributing to the ascendancy of the OS, which has now overtaken Apple’s iOS as the most sold platform, according to analysts.
Read Move Over Android, Samsung Checks Out MeeGo
