Sunday 8 April 2012

Editorial: HTC please reconsider!

HTC please reconsider your policy on Beats headphone bundling.



   HTC announced this week that they don't plan to bundle Beats headphones with their upcoming phones from now on. I know they have had a rough couple of quarters but they need something distinctive to encourage people to buy their phones and I'm going to tell you why the company should reconsider.

   Let me explain; if you walk into a phone shop to buy a new phone and you know you have £35 a month to spend on your contract, but you're undecided on which phone to buy... All you know is that you don't want an iPhone. This is why HTC needs to bundle headphones; if you get a choice of two phones, lets say for the sake of argument they are the HTC One X and the unannounced Samsung Galaxy S3. They both have comparable specs, they both have pointless launchers added on top of Android (Touchwiz and Sense) and they are both stunning in appearance. What will help you decide?! HTC are offering a free pair of Beats headphones and that is the deciding factor right there. This is exactly why I can't understand HTC's decision at all.

   The company's official line is this;

"An accessory like the headphone doesn't factor in when someone is buying a smartphone... If they want a Beats headphone, they'll buy it directly."

   I couldn't disagree more. Everyone knows Beats are £50 upwards here in the UK, which in reality is a substantial amount of money, so if the headphones are bundled in the box it is a genuinely attractive proposition to potential customers. After all HTC needs to sell some phones to get themselves back on track.

   The thing is the headphones don't cost HTC a lot to produce and bundle and giving them away with phones helps people choose HTC over other companies. HTC please wake up and see what you're doing, reconsider or soon you'll be quietly brilliant broke!!!

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