 "Pleased to see no innovation in the design of the S4: HTC President")
After HTC CMO Ben Ho taking a not so subtle dig at the Samsung Galaxy S4’s underwhelming specifications, Mike Woodwork, President of the company’s North America segment has chimed in, calling the phone’s design “iterative”.
Woodward, in a caustic interview with Business Insider a day after Samsung launched the newest Galaxy phone, said, “We were pleased to see no innovation in the design itself.” He went on to say that the Galaxy S4’s slew of new software features were gimmicky and that users will probably not even be interested in them.
Clearly confident that the HTC One can trump the Samsung Galaxy S4 in the featuires department, Woodward continued to praise the smart features of his company’s phone. He mentioned about the intelligent abilities of HTC One’s new Sense 5 user interface, which includes the ability to pull in content from partners like ESPN and social networks like Facebook and Twitter. HTC One also has an all metal and glass design, whereas the Galaxy S4 stuck with a plastic construction, he said.
Stealing the S4’s thunder!
Woodward also touched on the sensitive topic of Samsung’s vast marketing funds that give it an edge over rival companies. “I think Samsung is trying to overwhelm us with money and marketing and then pushing multiple features out there,” he said. Clearly, HTC cannot match Samsung’s budget for a while, but Woodward says that the Taiwanese company will be able to get more aggressive in the future as it sells more devices.
On the eve of the launch of the much-hyped Galaxy S4, HTC was one of the companies that trained its guns on to Samsung. But unlike most companies, HTC did not limit itself to one tactic to take a shot at Samsung. Besides sending out a barrage of tweets with the hashtag “#theNextBigFlop” to counter Samsung’s motto “The Next Big Thing,” HTC tried to turn the focus of the pre-launch on to itself.
HTC sent out a guerilla street team to the launch event of the Galaxy S4. The team gave out snacks and cocoa to people waiting for the launch. Also reporters who had been flown from across the world for the launch of the newest Galaxy phone by Samsung, actually got to have a hands on experience with the HTC One while waiting in the queue. The street team also gave out cards that promised a whopping $100 off on the HTC One.
Not the one to mince words, the newest HTC CMO, Ben Ho, came out to say that yet again the Galaxy S4 was “more of the same", in reference to its plastic body. “With a continuation of a plastic body, and a larger screen being the most obvious physical change, Samsung’s new Galaxy pales in comparison to the all-aluminum unibody HTC One,” he said. “This is more of the same. HTC remains the best option for those people looking for the best technology wrapped in premium design. Our customers want something different from the mainstream, who appear to be the target for the Galaxy. Our customers want original cutting-edge technology, mouth-watering design and a premium feel from their mobiles, which is why we created the HTC One."
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