Taiwanese tech firm HTC does not want to follow the footsteps of embattled Canadian phonemaker BlackBerry is making expensive, but unsellable phones. That means its flagship HTC One would probably the last premium handset from the company for some time.

HTC said on Wednesday that it would shift focus on manufacturing affordable phones to return to profitability by the end of 2013 by offering consumers lower-priced handsets to regain its shrinking global market share, disclosed HTC Financial Chief Chialan Chang.

YouTube/WochitTech

The company decided to shift focus following the release of its 2nd quarter results that 60 per cent of phones it shipped to the lucrative Chinese market cost $150 or lower. Chinese consumers are predisposed toward less expensive units, explaining why Apples iPhone 5C is unpopular in China and why local brand Xiaomi could sell 100,000 units of its low-cost handsets in 82 seconds.

However, with the shift in focus, there looms a potential shortage of its premium units such as the HTC One, HTC One Mini and HTC One Maxx, especially for the Christmas holiday shopping season.

HTC's share of the global smartphone market, according to latest date from research firm Gartner, is down to 2.6 per cent, prompting the Taiwanese firm to hire American actor Robert Downey Jr. to promote the HTC brand through TV commercials such as the one below.

YouTube/RedLineTV

RELATED STORIES