"The Smartphone Market", Press Conference by HTC (Fri. 30 August '07)

HTC's CEO will talk on the global and Japanese smartphone market at the Foreign Correspondents Club of Japan. It will be interesting to see what the response of the press and the market will be to the direct sale of handsets here. Currently,unlike in many other countries, almost all phones are sold by carriers and can only be used on that carrier's network.

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Peter Chou, HTC Corp. CEO, "The Smartphone Market"
Time: 2007 Aug 31 14:00 - 15:00

"The Smartphone Market"

The Japanese cell phone market has always been a difficult nut for foreign companies to crack. Japan's carriers exercise tight control over the handsets that are sold and set demanding quality standards that have left some foreign companies stumbling.

Taiwan's High Tech Computer Corp. (HTC) is one of the few success stories. Its smart phones, which bundle voice with e-mail, Web browsing and other applications on the Windows Mobile platform, first went on sale here in 2006 and are now available through NTT DoCoMo and Softbank Mobile. Later this year, HTC will take another step in Japan with the launch of direct sales of handsets that will work with any cellular carrier.

Peter Chou, CEO of the Taiwanese company, will visit the club on Friday to discuss the global smartphone market, how Japan stands in relationship to these global trends and the developments we can expect from HTC in regards to the Japanese market over the coming year. He will be joined by John Wang, chief marketing officer of HTC.

Chou's visit will come at a good time. The smart phone market underwent a huge shake up earlier this year when Apple launched its iPhone in the U.S. and now all eyes are on Apple to see when the iconic phone will be released in Europe and Asia.