Laptop Magazine recently sat down with Peter Chou, HTC CEO, to talk about HTC’s plans for 2008 and his thoughts on the industry in general. There are no specific details but there are hints that 2008 could be another exciting year for HTC products.
With regards to Windows Mobile, he described the operating system as having a lot of good stuff inside, but the user interface has not been easy. It is very techy and not intuitive. This led to the decision to develop the Touch line of devices with the TouchFLO interface. The Touch devices have been well received by consumers and HTC is looking now to build on that success by focusing more on the mobile Internet experience. The fact that Windows Mobile 6.1 seems to have borrowed some ideas from the TouchFLO interface did not seem to worry Chou who is more focused on future innovation that will keep HTC ahead of its competitors.
HTC has also been working with Android, Google’s open source mobile operating system. They have worked with Google now for over three years and remain committed to releasing their first Android-powered device by the end of the year. According to Chou, Android will allow HTC to further differentiate itself from competitors with innovative industrial design and user experience.
In the interview, Chou also shares his thoughts on the success of the iPhone and the ASUS Eee as well as the HTC Shift and HTC’s role as the ODM for the Sony Ericsson XPERIA X1.