According to many experts, that was actually the core of the issue – the fact that people expected the M9 to make the same kind of impact on the market like the M8 did, even though that was mostly a one-time wonder and nothing that could realistically be expected to be replicated multiple times.
Once the One M10 arrives, it will be an interesting event not only for fans of the company, but for tech geeks in general. The phone could bring a lot to the table that can easily revive trust in the brand, but on the other hand it could also solidify the notion that the success of the M8 was nothing more than a strike of luck for the company.
Perhaps those are harsh predictions, but the market for smartphones is definitely quite brutal and competitive, and companies that don’t manage to live up to the expectations are quickly swept under the rug.
HTC still have a lot of potential to make some solid releases over the next months, but the company definitely has to tread more carefully now as there is more pressure on them to succeed, and that might turn out to harm them in the long run. They still have many fans looking forward to their releases at least, so they have a lot of support for their next product.
Tell us, what is the bigger picture about the M9 we are missing and that makes it a great phone?
The M8, was not a one hit wonder. It was a phone developed with taking into account the feedback on the M7 and they did that marvellous. Personally I really dislike the black bar on the front of the phone with the HTC logo and not that much into the quality of external speakers but apart from that the M8 delivered.
What is mindblowing is this article holding on to the idea the M9 failed solely due too demanding expectations of the public. When Samsung released the S5 it was crushed for using the same design language and minimal upgrades even though the phone was actually better than the S4 even with its minimal upgrades and uninspiring design.
Now HTC made that same mistake with the M9. A third iteration of the same design used on the M7, a battery performing less good than the M8, a screen that also was of less quality like the M8 even though the specs of it were the same and a high MP camera which took disappointing photos so is it really the issue the public expected too much or is it just too hard to admit HTC really screwed up with the M9, relying too much on the praised metallic design and boomspeakers while the incremental upgrades didn’t offer any improvements and in fact performed less than the M8? And I am not even mentioning the issues with the 810 SoC which aren’t HTC’s fault but it made the public hesitant too.
No, let us admit, let us be honest. The M9 is not a good phone even though its specs suggest otherwise and public expectations aren’t the reason why it didn’t sell. Samsung learned the hard way and now HTC did even though Samsung still released a S5 which was better than the S4. Something HTC can’t say about the M9 compared to M8 if leaving raw SoC power out of the equation
The s5 was not much better. The one A9 however does show a step in the right direction. If HTC can use a similar design language with great specs,camera,display, and boomsound…they would have finally made a damn near perfect phone.