SAN FRANCISCO — You're going to have to head to Best Buy if you're looking to snap up the HTC One in the brand new metallic blue color.
BestBuy is getting a U.S. exclusive on the blue version of the phone through the end of the year. HTC unveiled the new color at the IFA trade show in Berlin last week. The HTC One also comes in black and silver.
The blue phone — available on Verizon, AT&T and Sprint — will go on sale beginning on Sunday at Best Buy stores and BestBuy.com. The Verizon version has begun to hit stores already.
HTC says beginning Sunday it will offer special pricing as part of a promotion with a two-year service contract though it did not release specifics. The blue version of the phone is not available on T-Mobile.
The marketing partnership marks a first for the two companies.
HTC launched the stylish One this spring in the U.S. The company's flagship phone for 2013, it has excellent screen display and a BlinkFeed interface that pushes your news and social network feeds front and center. The phone doubles as a universal remote control, with recommendations of what to watch based on your preferences.
Wolfgang Muller, HTC's executive director of national retail in North America, says the marketing exclusive came out of an experience demonstrating that "Sense TV" feature in a Best Buy showroom, which led to a desire to deepen the marketing partnership.
HTC had done a color exclusive with Best Buy in 2010, with a white EVO 4G phone, but this is the first across major carriers with a color that is unique to Best Buy.
"We're really getting behind it in a big way for the holidays," he told USA TODAY.
Indeed, the fall is shaping up as a crucial season for smartphone makers. The critically well-received HTC One is going head-to-head in the Android world against Samsung's popular Galaxy line, new handsets from Sony and LG and the new Moto X from Google's Motorola unit, not to mention Nokia's Lumia 1020 in Windows Phones. And Apple on Tuesday will unveil the new version of its iconic iPhone.
Phones in distinctive colors are a part of the competitive push this year. Moto X buyers on AT&T now can customize the look of the handset via the Moto Maker feature. And Apple is expected to unveil a gold-colored version of the iPhone and perhaps experiment with color on a less expensive version of the phone.
The HTC One has been a critical success for the company, which doesn't release specific sales figures for its phones. In July, the company released a statement saying the One has performed better than its so-called "hero" products for the same period last year. In May, the Wall Street Journal reported that HTC sold about 5 million One handsets in its first month.
Source : USAToday
No comments