HP’s Upcoming Large Screen Smartphones Headed for Indian Shores

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HP’s Upcoming Large Screen Smartphones Headed for Indian Shores

HP is reportedly planning to return to the smartphone market again. According to reports, the company may unveil two new smartphones in the emerging markets like India, China and Philippines. And will be sold off contract for between $200 and $250. These large screen phablets will have six and seven inch display sizes.

New York: The low-cost orientation of the rumoured devices also falls right in line with the company’s budget-friendly Android tablet range. Earlier, this month, HP launched a quartet of affordable Android slates.

These devices were in development for quite a while now, back in June. Senior executive with HP stated that the former ‘world’s largest PC maker’ has plans to launch a new smartphone. HP’s Yam Su Yin told that although the company couldn’t share details about an exact launch date, the smartphone was definitely being developed. Su Yin also underscored the importance that smartphones held today by saying that it would be “silly” if HP did not have a presence in the smartphone segment.

HP stepped out of the smartphone market after the failed launch of devices such as Pre 3 and Veer 4G based on webOS in 2011. CEO Meg Whitman had admitted before the media that the company is ‘working on this’ and that HP “ultimately has to offer a smartphone” because it feels that such a product is the first computer-like device a person buys in many countries.

In July, a director of the company also mentioned about HP’s plans to make a comeback but failed to provide a timeline for the same.

There is no word on when exactly HP will announce the new devices but the information notes that we could see the release before the end of 2013. But given the fact that only a few days are left in the year, we couldn’t be too hopeful.

No other details about the smartphone are available at this point, which will most likely run on Android like the recent Slate-series of tablets from HP. HP might tap the low-cost SoC makers like MediaTek or Rockchip for its phones to keep the prices down, as the pricing is going to be a very importance factor in the success of these phones. India, China and Philippines markets are already full with similar phones in home-grown smartphones vendors and Chinese OEMs, which offer great specifications in affordable pricing. The only positive with HP is its relatively known brand name, which might lead to consumers to buy its phone over the unknown Chinese makers.