After launching the HTC U Ultra, it seems like HTC may launch a Snapdragon 835-powered smartphone later this year. In an interview with Tbreak, Chialin Chang, HTC's President of Smartphones and Connected Device, suggested that the company might already be working on a new flagship phone.
When asked if the HTC U was going to be the only flagship for the year, he said, “Every time there is a brand new CPU with power that we can leverage, we're always at the forefront doing that. 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” While he did not mention the Snapdragon 835 by name, it is the next flagship CPU that Qualcomm will launch. He also added, “When we will look back, it will be clear why HTC introduced [these new phones.] 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. Not for us or any other player. I can tell you that for sure. When the new CPU comes, HTC will have another flagship.” Besides this, Chang also said that HTC has no plans to enter the wearable market.
The HTC U Ultra was announced earlier this month and is powered by a Snapdragon 821 SoC, which is currently Qualcomm’s flagship processor. However, the chipset maker has already announced the Snapdragon 835, which will take over as the flagship SoC. The new SoC features a 10nm microarchitecture, and will be fabricated by Samsung. The company said that the Snapdragon 835 is 35% smaller in size and consumes 25% less power.