HTC Executive Confirms Another Flagship Smartphone Is In The Works, Hints At Snapdragon 835 Chip

HTC may have just launched the flagship U Ultra handset earlier this month, but apparently, that’s not the only flagship it will release this year. HTC’s president of smartphones and connected devices, Cialin Chang, has confirmed that another flagship is in development and it might come with the newer Snapdragon 835 processor.

“Every time there is a brand new CPU with power that we can leverage, we're always at the forefront doing that,” Chang told Tbreak when asked whether the U Ultra would be the only HTC flagship in 2017. “Some people are talking about the timing [of our release] but timing was determined 9 months ago. This is the best CPU out there. When the next flagship CPU comes, HTC will be one of the very first tier doing that.”

Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 835 wasn’t named outright, but Chang appears to be implying that that’s what he’s talking about. As a refresher, the HTC U Ultra only comes with the Snapdragon 821 chip. It’s a formidable processor, but it’s already been succeeded by the more powerful Snapdragon 835.

It was reported recently that Samsung was able to acquire all the initial supplies of the Snapdragon 835 for the Galaxy S8. This is probably why Chang also told Tbreak that HTC’s new flagship won’t be announced next month at MWC 2017.

“We want to have a couple of months of leadership before the next flagship CPU comes. But that will be in another period of time- not at MWC,” Chang said. “Not for us or any other player. I can tell you that for sure. When the new CPU comes, HTC will have another flagship.”

It’s possible that HTC’s second flagship smartphone might launch some time during the second quarter of 2017, as speculated by Android Central. The Galaxy S8 is said to launch on March 29 which should give HTC, as well as other manufacturers, time to come out with fresh new handsets with the Snapdragon 835 chip between April and June.

The only problem that HTC might face is the fact that its U Ultra handset won’t be hitting the United States until mid-March. Hence, an announcement of another flagship afterwards could hurt sales of the U Ultra.