HTC Corporation, a leading Taiwanese smartphone-maker, has said it is planning to launch its new HTC Desire X into the South African market in October.
HTC in a statement said the device features a dual-core 1GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processor, a 4-inch WVGA (480×800) Super LCD display, 5-megapixel camera, and Beats Audio.
The phone’s camera specifications include a f/2.0 28mm wide-angle lens, BSI sensor, HDR mode, and automatic adjustable flash along with its proprietary ImageChip. Users will be able to take photos while shooting video, or take screenshots of a video playing back.
The phone also comes with a free Dropbox integration that gives 25GB of free online storage for two years so long users sign up before the end of next year.
The phone will be available in selected markets from September 2012, and South Africa will be the first country in Africa to receive the phone.
This comes a few weeks after HTC promised to concentrate more on the South African market, four months after establishing a local office.
Few months ago, HTC decided to bring a local office in South Africa, to serve its growing customer base, settling on MTN and Vodacom SA as their main distributors of its new One-series range of devices.
Currently, smartphone penetration in South Africa stands at 5.1 percent (or 7.5 million), with predictions putting the figure at 80 percent (Gartner). HTC may be banking on these predictions and launch in the country soonest possible.
However, this may not be easy as BlackBerry dominates South Africa’s smartphone market, with a 45 to 60 percent share of all the smartphones in use.
