HTC unveiled its flagship smartphone for Japan today at an event in Tokyo, the J Butterfly (HTL23), which shares many similarities with the fantastic One M8.
Sony Announced At Gamescom That More Than 10 Million PS4 Units Have Been Sold
The Verge reported on its reveal, noting the emphasis HTC is putting on the Japanese market. Smartphone sales are down in general, and HTC is struggling to consistently make a profit--this tech-enthused audience could be key to turning the Taiwanese company's fortunes around.
The J Butterfly has a 5-inch 1080p display, front-facing Boom Sound speakers, and a second camera lens (any of this sounding familiar?). There are differences from the global One M8, however, most notably that the casing is plastic rather than metal. The phone still looks attractive, but I can attest to the sturdy and quality feel of the fully-metal body on the One M8--perhaps Japanese audiences do not have the same preference.
Community Season 6 Trailer Looks Back On Past Years, Promises To Be Better
Other features are the waterproof and dustproof design, infrared signal, TV tuner, and mobile wallet. This is not the first J Butterfly device--the original even came to the U.S. as the Droid DNA. The new model had been announced a while back, but HTC still made today's reveal event a major one, inviting media from all over Asia.
The One M8 has gained near-universal praise critically, received as perhaps the best Android phone on the market. As mentioned, though, this hasn't entirely translated to strong sales--a difficult task when up against Samsung, not to mention the struggle of converting Apple fans. Japanese-specific phones have done well for HTC in the past, and will need to succeed here to support the company as a whole.
