14 DAY TRIAL // While announcing the launch in Taiwan of its third handset running under Google's Android operating system, the HTC Hero, mobile phone maker HTC Corporation also mentioned that the second Android-based device in the world, the HTC Magic, had been sold in more than 1 million units since its launch on the market, back in April.
Although the world is experiencing an economic downturn, it seems that HTC’s CEO, Peter Chou, was right when forecasting back in June that the company would manage to sell 1 million Magic phones by August. Available in a wide range of markets around the world, including the US, where it has just been launched as the T-Mobile myTouch 3G, the phone comes with great improvements over the first Android handset, the HTC Dream, while boasting only a touchscreen display and no physical keyboard.
The third Android phone HTC came to the market with, the HTC Hero, has just been released in the handset maker's homeland, yet it is already available in a series of markets around the world as well, including UK, where T-Mobile has it as G2 Touch. In Taiwan, the device will be available for free on Chunghwa Telecom's airwaves upon the signing of a two-year contract agreement with a monthly rate of NT$1,749 (US$53). The full retail price for the device has been set at NT$20,900.
As for the remaining part of the year, it seems that the company plans on focusing mainly on the mid-level market segment. According to Peter Chou, most of the handsets that will come from HTC in the following months will be priced at around US$300. The mid-range smartphones are expected to account for around 50-60% of HTC's total phone shipments until the end of the ongoing year, Chou stated, according to DigiTimes. He hasn't released any details on what OSes the phones would sport, yet a possible mid-level Android HTC device that has already been rumored to come in 2009 is the HTC Click.