The HTC 11 is confirmed to be skipping the MWC 2017 for its big debut. The Taiwanese manufacturers are waiting for the release of Qualcomm's latest chipset, the Snapdragon 835, which may first outfit the Samsung Galaxy S8.
HTC has confirmed that it will not be launching a flagship device in MWC next month. Last month, the HTC U Ultra was launched at CES, but without the premium Snapdragon 835 chipset that many were expecting.
The Snapdragon 835 is still due on April, which delayed the unveiling of the HTC 11. Moreover, Samsungs' Foundry Arm is manufacturing the chipsets for Qualcomm and may have first dibs on the premium chipsets.
It appears that HTC has decided to delay the launching of its latest flagship to wait for the release and availability of the Snapdragon 835. Incidentally, LG has decided to skip the latest SoC and settled for the Snapdragon 821 for its flagship LG G6 in order to make it in time for MWC. LG intends to overtake the Samsung Galaxy S8 launching in March if new reports are true.
In an interview with TBreak, HTC President of Smartphones and Connected devices Chialin Chang explained why HTC 11 will not be part of MWC. Chang asserts that HTC has always been on the forefront of the latest technology particularly the newest CPU.
Chang added that once the new CPU is available, HTC will release its newest iteration based on the latest processor. This means that HTC is poised to release another flagship device by the second quarter of the year according to Android Central.
The only drawback in waiting for the availability of the Snapdragon 835 is that timing is a crucial element for the Taiwanese giant. The HTC U Ultra unveiled last month will hit the U.S. market by mid-March.
With a delayed release of the HTC 11, there will also be repercussions that will impact shipments and sales. HTC will have to find ways to recover interest enough to entice consumers to buy, assuming they have not purchased a new phone pre and post-MWC.
