HTC considering OS purchase: “We have given it thought and discussed it internally”
HTC will debut the Titan, a Windows Phone 7 ‘Mango’ device, on AT&T this Fall.
A rather curious message comes from the HTC camp, with chairwoman Cher Wang confirming her company has given the notion of buying its own mobile operating system “a thought”, according to a report by Focus Taiwan.
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.
WebOS? Don’t count on it, although any purchase is possible these days with the mobile space turned upside down. The HTC Sense user interface is seen by the company as a compatibility layer which can hide the underlying OS from the user, at least from the usability standpoint. In the larger scheme of things, the very public mention of buying its own mobile software should not be interpreted as a voice of support for non-Google software, at least for now.
After all, the vast majority of the handsets HTC is selling today run Google’s Android software. That being said, there’s nothing unusual with HTC seeking alternative solutions for the future. The company used patents Google obtained from its Motorola acquisition to sue Apple and gain some leverage in its ongoing litigation with the iPhone maker. If Apple prevails in court, HTC’s Android strategy could come into question as the royalties will likely hurt profits and slim margins.