A leaked video showing off HTC’s newest flagship phone reveals that the Taiwanese carrier is taking some design cues from Apple as it tries to reinvigorate falling sales.
In the short introduction video, posted on YouTube by HDBlog, the new phone is seen with an oval shape resembling the most recent iPhones. The phone also has a prominent camera bump and metal buttons on one side to control volume like Apple’s models. HTC has scheduled a simultaneous press events in New York, London, and Taipei at 1 p.m. GMT Tuesday where it is expected to officially unveil its new phone.
The leaked pictures show a device not entirely like the iPhone, however, as the bottom of the HTC phone has a USB-C port. Apple is sticking with its proprietary lightning port so far, but HTC appears to be joining some other Android phone makers like LG in replacing older micro USB ports with the faster and slicker USB-C port.
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Still, HTC faces an uphill battle to restore its position as a major player in smartphones. Five years ago, HTC was one of the best-selling brands in the world, but its market share has steadily eroded in the face of Samsung’s massive marketing machine and dropped to under 2% last year.
Revenue in February, at about $129 million, was down 55% from the same month a year earlier. The company has branched out to other areas, with hopes that virtual reality hardware might spark a turnaround.
