(original title: HTC & rsquo; s blockchain powered Exodus smartphone is a risky bet that needs to pay off)
Phil Chen, director of exodus of HTC blockchain smartphone project
Netease science and technology news on July 13, foreign media the verge wrote that HTC is a risky move to make a blockchain smartphone Exodus. After all, blockchain and cryptocurrency are still in a quite early stage of development, but HTC in financial difficulties needs the handset to succeed.
The following is the main content of the article:
In May, HTC announced for the first time that it was developing a blockchain smartphone called Exodus. The news was released after it had a bad start to the year. It was a rather eye-catching project. In the first quarter of last year, HTC shipped more than 2 million products. According to IDC, a market research firm, the company shipped only 630000 units in the first quarter of this year.
HTC is in a pretty bad position. Last week, it laid off 1500 employees in Taiwan, hoping to turn a loss into a profit. Sales fell 68% in June, according to the company. Its latest flagship product, U12 plus, has been widely criticized for its strange physical keys and software defects.
For the blockchain, the recent days have not been very good, and the price of cryptocurrency has been falling all the way. In addition, a report last month from researchers at the University of Texas at Austin showed that bitcoin has price manipulation.
Given HTC's financial situation, the launch of the Exodus phone is critical. At present, the verge has learned the details about the launch time and estimated price of the mobile phone from Phil Chen of HTC. Although he was vague about the details, he revealed that he expected the phone to be launched at the end of this year and the price to be announced at the end of the third quarter. When the verge mentioned that Finney, the world's first blockchain mobile phone (developed by sirin labs), was selling for $1000, Phil Chen said that Exodus's price was' similar '.
Mobile phones with wallets will be launched by the end of the year
As soon as exodus is launched, it will be available around the world, said Phil Chen, "I want to say it will be available anywhere outside China. 'it's going to be difficult to bring exodus to China because' China has different rules on everything from regulation to how Android works in China, 'he said. '
(Figure: blockchain cat game "cryptokitties")
When the Exodus mobile phone was released in May, Phil Chen said, "the mobile phone we envision is like this: you have your own key, keep your own identity information and data, and your mobile phone is the center of everything. "Now Phil Chen said that it's a little far away from his mobile phone to keep personal identity information, and the mobile phone coming at the end of the year will be a mobile phone with wallet and blockchain cat game" cryptokitties ". The details of the equipment's specifications are yet to be announced.
In the long run, he hopes to find a more effective way to mine cryptocurrencies on mobile devices by consulting with 'renowned' experts hired by HTC. Efficient mining on mobile devices will take time to figure out, but HTC has been exploring a number of different consensus agreements that may achieve this goal. Phil Chen said the company may issue a white paper this year to provide more details.
Phil Chen has been paying close attention to aether and Dao since 2015. He said he was the first one to put forward the concept of blockchain mobile phone to HTC executives. By the end of last year, with the rapid rise of bitcoin prices, the idea seemed more attractive to HTC and was quickly incorporated into its development strategy.
In early 2018, developers started writing code. 'by March and April, it was clear that someone was needed to manage it. 'said Phil Chen. This is Phil Chen, who was appointed chief decentralization Officer - a recognition of the emerging technologies he will be responsible for.
'many people don't understand blockchain. '
However, in the past year, the upsurge of cryptocurrency has gradually subsided, and frequent cryptocurrency fraud and hacker attacks have also aroused people's vigilance. Working together to become the only company that attaches digital cat transactions to mobile devices and allows users to own their own cryptocurrency wallets could fail or fall into the category of scams and gimmicks.
Phil Chen responded that a mobile phone with a cryptocurrency wallet would be 'the safest hardware wallet in the world'. He also hopes that trading virtual cats will encourage players and those less familiar with cryptocurrencies to try using Exodus phones. 'for people outside the cryptocurrency world, games are the most intimate thing on mobile devices. 'he said.
Phil Chen sounds like he just wants the exodus to attract a certain group of people. He hopes the phone will appeal to non cryptocurrency enthusiasts, but he has also targeted a 'market segment', in his words, 30 million users of bitcoin wallets. These people are looking for a device to access and manage their bitcoin. But in markets dominated by apple, Samsung and China's smartphones, even companies like Google can't make quality products like pixel sell. HTC is betting on a device designed specifically for the segment.
'in my opinion, they are probably grabbing something that doesn't exist. Many people still don't understand blockchain. 'for Exodus, Phil Chen wants people to be every node, because every Exodus device will form a node in the blockchain,' will Stofega, IDC's director of mobile devices and UAV projects, told the verge. But the question is, does anyone want to get into the chain? "
'the future will come when it's time to come, not when HTC needs it. '
In the past year, most companies' smartphone shipments have stagnated, with the exception of Xiaomi in China. 'there's almost nothing they can do now. The switching cycle has slowed down. Basically everyone has a smartphone. If a new mobile phone wants to attract everyone to buy it, it must have some magic power, and it must be inconceivable. 'Stofega also mentioned Samsung and other companies' patents for foldable mobile phones,' which sounds exciting, but I'm not sure if it's good enough, if it really adds value to the product. '
Still, Stofega points out that technology giants in the smartphone industry, such as apple and Samsung, have no idea of building blockchain phones, which is good for HTC. Taking such action first may pay off HTC. If anyone can make a company's bleak story sound promising, Phil Chen seems to be the one. When asked about HTC's recent layoffs, he said, 'I think it marks a change in the company's strategy, so I think it's a positive change: focus on the future, not the past. '
He believes that a blockchain mobile phone cannot create a fund-raising gimmick for a troubled company because the technology is not mature. 'I think most of us will agree that blockchain and cryptocurrency are still in a very early stage. HTC's move towards cryptocurrencies is clearly an investment. It is not appropriate to say that making an encrypted mobile phone will help HTC turn a loss into a profit or keep a profit, because it is a very small market. Blockchain will shine in the future. '
That's why HTC's blockchain mobile phone is an adventure and may succeed. Stofega joked: 'if this is the future and HTC had caught it early, then they would have been ahead of everyone else. But the future will come when it's time to come, not when HTC needs it. '