HTC sues fans for premature unboxing
One X-posed
HTC is attempting to sue an HTC fansite for unpacking - 'unboxing', as The Kids calls it - the company's forthcoming flagship smartphone, the One X, on camera.
The Taiwanese firm is also upset at French site HTC-Hub for giving the Tegra 3-based handset a run through and comparing it to HTC's other unreleased blower, One S.
The vender late last week issued a civil suit against HTC-Hub, even though the phone is set for imminent release and was leaked weeks before its official unveiling at the Mobile World Congress show back in February.
HTC also sent bailiffs to recover the One S handset the site planned to review, HTC-Hub claimed.
The site also claimed it wasn't scheduled to officially receive review units for at least another week and, in any case, it hadn't entered into a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with HTC.
It does all seem a bit harsh considering the site is both by and for HTC fans, not to mention the fact both handsets were so close to release anyway.
The HTC One X hits shelves this week, and network tariffs and pricing for the five-core beast have already been revealed. ®
Hat tip to Jose for bringing this to our attention.
COMMENTS
So, HTC hate their fans.
I assume they treat their less enthusiastic customers with even more contempt, so I'll give them a miss in future and advise others to do the same.
Re: nda
You missed this "The site also claimed it wasn't scheduled to officially receive review units for at least another week and, in any case, it hadn't entered into a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) with HTC"
FAIL for you sir.
Time to get better marketing personel
I mean really; if there's one thing the average big IT companies has learned its that you should never "take it out" on fans, because fans are not only potential customers. Better yet; they may even interest other people (outside your "marketing scope") to check up on your products.
Microsoft? Was weary when it came to Mono but in the end (at least up until now) leaves the project be, even though they're "messing" with an MS flagship called .NET. Ballmer? Even though he is a fruitcake he wasn't too arrogant to sign a kids macbook (iirc). Probably running NT, but who knows. Either way; Ballmer didn't start "omg the competition!". And there are plenty of other examples to be found out there, don't get me started on how lenient Sun has always been towards its fanbase.
This is an epic fail. The big bad HTC company against the underdog; enthusiastic fans who were only trying to spread the word of the Lord, errr, phone :-) Guess what /that/ will do to your credibility ?
They should have left this alone. Better yet; during the official presentation should have /congratulated/ these guys for beating them to the punch. You can turn that into a marketing advantage for yourself easily: "Everyone wants this phone, its so bad that people even risk breaking our rules to get their hands on it. See how great it is?".
THAT is how you do it. Take your "loss" and turn it into a win. You get (positive) attention, you get sympathy and you may attract more people's interest.
This only gets you disdain, which can easily work against you. Breaking a reputation is much quicker than building one, never forget that!
Re: These hackers got off lightly
... Which makes me wonder: When Bubba is accused of a crime, who do the internet blowhards suggest -he- be locked up with? I mean, I just can't see Bubba getting arrested for opossum-buggery, and people commenting, "Just throw him in a cell with a hipster electronics reviewer!".
Re: So many ways..
Oooh, the Fanboi is strong with this one...
