Taiwan-based mobile phone maker HTC has revamped its strategy by introducing two flagship smartphones in Japan on Tuesday, Sept. 29, to compete against Apple's iPhone 6S and 6S Plus models, the Want China Times reported.
The report said that this is the first time that HTC has unveiled two flagship handsets in the second half of a single year, which is seen as a shift from the company's traditional strategy of releasing only one premium smartphone per year.
The company launched the One M9+ with improved camera features and the Butterfly 3 this time.
Jack Tong, president of HTC North Asia, said during the launch that more flagship phones will be released this year as a way to keep more consumer attention away from the launch of Apple's new iPhones, while expanding the company's high-end offerings for telecom operators.
Tong expected that with the launch of the two new HTC flagship phones, the company's sales in the fourth quarter will increase and help regain its market share in the high-end segment.
The upgraded One M9+ sports a better camera module, compared with its previous version, launched in April this year. It is also built with a laser-focus feature and optical image stabilization (OIS), to compensate for a small amount of vibration, the report said.
On the other hand, the Butterfly 3, a third-generation model, is tailor-made for the Japan and Taiwan markets, and features a 5.2-inch 2K screen, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor, 3GB of RAM, 32GB of expandable storage capacity, a 20-megapixel rear camera, a 13-megapixel front-facing camera and a 2700mAh battery.
Reports said that Apple has sold more than 13 million new iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus models, a new record for the first three days of iPhone sales, Apple said on Sept. 28.
Launched on Sept. 9, the iPhone 6S and iPhone 6S Plus are equipped with force-sensitive "3D Touch" technology embedded in the screen.
Apple said that the models will be available beginning Oct. 9 in more than 40 additional countries that include Italy, Mexico, Russia, Spain and Taiwan.
The report added that the new iPhones will be available in over 130 countries by the end of the year.
In the last trading session of the Taiwan Stock Exchange on Sept. 25, HTC shares climbed 4.95 percent to close at NT$63.6 ($1.93).