HTC is bringing the One M8’s more affordable sibling, the Desire family of smartphones, to the US. The HTC Desire 816 will debut on Virgin Mobile on Tuesday for $299 without a contract. HTC will sell the Desire 610 and Desire 816 on its own website. The company also teased more Desire smartphones to come to the US. The move marks a reversal of HTC’s recent strategy to narrow its focus and marketing efforts behind the flagship HTC One M8. HTC continues to struggle with eroding market share and 12 straight quarters of declining revenue. By launching the Desire family in the US, the company hopes to expand its reach to more cost-conscious consumers and people who opt to pay the full price of the smartphone upfront.
It was earlier today that Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer HTC stepped forward to bring word that they will be expanding the availability of the 2014 HTC Desire series over in the U.S., which is good news for folks who have a soft spot for HTC’s mid-range devices. In fact, AT&T customers were already able to pick up the HTC Desire 610 since the end of last month, with AT&T putting up the handset on offer for less than a dollar alongside a 2 year contract, never mind that the standard price stands at $199.99 with a subsidy. Just what does the HTC Desire 610 bring along with it? For starters, it will boast of a 4.7” display at 480 x 854 resolution – nothing groundbreaking, I know, but it is functional to say the least. Apart from that, there is also a quad-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400 processor accompanied by an Adreno 305 GPU, 1GB RAM, 8GB of internal memory which can be further expanded via a microSD memory card slot, an 8MP shooter at the back alongside a 1.3MP camera in front, and a 2,040mAh battery, running on Android 4.4.4 KitKat as the operating system of choice. Expect the HTC Desire 816 to arrive tomorrow on Virgin Mobile which will be priced at $299 a pop, although there is an unlocked variant of the handset which can be picked up from HTC directly.
