HTC Desire 626 launching in Taiwan, competitively priced and spec’d to the Moto G

HTC is no stranger to the mid-range segment, creating some of the most attractive and premium looking devices in the category. When it comes to specs however, HTC tends to leave something to be desired, at least when it comes to display resolution. Thankfully, their latest mid-ranger brings us a true Moto G competitor in every way that counts.

The Desire 826 comes in either white or dark blue and is powered by a 1.2GHz 64-bit Snapdragon 410 processor and backed by 1GB RAM. There’s also 16GB storage with microSD, a 13MP rear camera, a 5MP frnt cam, a 2000 mAh battery and LTE support. The OS appears to be KitKat with Sense on top from what we gather, though hopefully a Lollipop update is coming sooner rather than later.

With the Desire 826 we get a 5-inch 720p display, putting it right on par with the Moto G (2nd gen)

One area we’ve yet to mention is the display, and that’s because it’s worth focusing on by itself. While we’ve seen plenty of Desire phones rock the above specs, most of the time we get quarter HD (or even lower) resolutions. With the Desire 826 we get a 5-inch 720p display, putting it right on par with the Moto G (2nd gen) but also giving it the advantage of LTE, what appears to be a better camera, and HTC’s arguably more attractive aesthetics.

Okay, but in order to really compete with the Moto G, the HTC Desire 826 will need to be priced aggressively, too. Here’s where things get a bit more complicated, as the phone does in fact cost around the same as the Moto G at $190 (NT$5990), but it currently is only launching in Taiwan. It’s unclear if or when the device will hit western markets, and even if it does, there’s no guarantees that it’s pricing will be as aggressive.

Providing HTC is able to launch around this price and comes to Europe and North America, would you consider picking up the Desire 826 over other budget devices like the Moto G? Let us know what you think in the comments.

HTC expects a solid first quarter, but the One M9 may not make a difference

Following a good end of the year, HTC hopes 2015 will continue on an upward trajectory.

For Q4 2014, HTC posted a small profit, as well as the first quarterly increase in revenues in three years. The growing revenue is especially important because it means that HTC has managed to sell more devices (or increase the average selling price of its phones) compared to the previous quarter. While HTC remained profitable throughout most of the year, staying in the black was thanks to slashing costs, rather than increasing revenues.

Today HTC published consolidated results for Q4 2014, showing small differences from the preliminary figures published on January 6. Quarterly revenue was NT$47.9 billion, while net profit was NT$0.5 billion.

What’s more interesting is HTC’s outlook for Q1 2015. Peter Chou’s company is forecasting between NT$41.5 billion and NT$45 billion ($1.32 billion and $1.43 billion) in revenue, a decrease compared to Q4 2014, but roughly 30 percent more than the same quarter in 2014.

Most electronics companies go through a lull in the first quarter of the year compared to the holiday quarter, but the fact that HTC expects a slowdown suggests the M9 won’t be available for enough time in Q1 to make an impact on revenue. The device will be introduced at the beginning of March (last month of Q1), but it may be weeks before the device becomes widely available.

All in all, HTC appears to be on a good path, but a lot depends on what the company will show us on March 1. Samsung has a lot weighing on the success of the Galaxy S6, due the same day, and it will be fun to see these two major players trying to one-up each other.