HTC pulls the plug on tablets in the U.S.

The 7 inch HTC Flyer

HTC has never made a dent in U.S. tablet sales. Calling the production of both the HTC Jetstream and HTC Flyer"a great learning experience," the Taiwan based manufacturer has announced that it is pulling out of the U.S. tablet market. HTC says it won't burn bridges and will keep open the option of returning to the U.S. tablet market sometime in the future. The HTC Flyer was a 7 inch device while the HTC Jetstream offered a 10.1 inch screen. But the dynamics of the current Android tablet market favors the low-priced 7 inch devices which was created with the launch of the OG Amazon Kindle Fire which took place after HTC released its pair of slates. Now, the hot Android tablets include the new Kindle Fire line and the Asus built Google Nexus 7.

If the Taiwan manufacturer can "make a splash" in the market, it will return. But for now, it has decided to leave the battle to others. Part of the problem was that HTC was focused on the mid to high end of the 7 inch tablet market. It took a price cut from Best Buy last October to get the HTC Flyer down to $299.99. That action took place the day after the Amazon Kindle Fire and its $199 price was launched. To make things even harder for HTC, the low-end of the Kindle Fire line is now priced at $159.  

"We’re watching that market [tablets] very, very closely. It was a great learning experience for us, and they definitely met expectations…We’re very much not set on one strategy over another"-Jeff Gordon, Global online communications manager, HTC