Things seem to be getting even worse for HTC, as the company’s demise in the smartphone market evident by the events taking place over the past couple of years is now only more so as the company is reportedly caught up in a patent dispute. Because of this issue, HTC has taken the decision to pull all of the company’s smartphone devices from sale in the UK. HTC has stopped selling phones in the UK
A company going by the name of IPCom GmbH & Co. KG specializes in intellectual property licensing and Research & Development – happens to be tied down in a dispute with HTC. The details don’t at all seem too interesting, but HTC at one point in the past agreed to sell only those phones in the UK that did not actually violate IPCom’s patents of a wireless technology developed for car phones.
IPCom has alleged that it carried out tests earlier in the year, and these showed that no workaround had actually been subject to implementation. The company is now alleging that HTC failed to “play by the rules” and also that the company has a “disregard for the law by contravening a UK court ruling”.
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In response to the situation, a spokesperson from HTC told the BBC that : “We are proactively investigating an infringement claim by a third party with respect to a single handset model.” In the meantime, things don’t look too good at the company’s website – as it directs out all the smartphones to be out of stock. However others, like Amazon UK do still have some models left for purchase. As far as the other products from the company go – they are still on sale.
While things don’t look too good for HTC in Europe, they might be looking up in the subcontinent – as the company is looking to make a comeback in the Indian smartphone market by introducing a new flagship smartphone series just later in the month. The reason as to why HTC left India in the first place was due to declining sale numbers, so the company will hope for results a bit better this time around.
It won’t be easy for HTC though to make its mark on an Indian market that is a very price-sensitive one – featuring with a sense of perfect competition. If the company does really want to make its mark, then it will have to make a phone that not only catches the eye with regards to the specs, but also when taking into consideration the price.
