HTC's shipments of 4G-enabled smartphones supporting either LTE or WiMAX are expected to top over 10 million units in 2011, accounting for 20% of its shipments, according to an estimate by industry sources.
HTC shipped 3.5 million 4G smartphones in 2010, including three million HTC EVO 4Gs for Sprint and 500,000 units of the HSPA+ myTouch 4G for T-Mobile. The two shipments accounted for 14% of HTC's total shipments in 2010.
The company will ship new 4G models to Verizon Wireless, Sprint as well as other potential clients in Europe and Japan in 2011, the sources indicated.
The company has unveiled a new 4G smartphone, the HTC EVO Shift 4G, which is powered by a Qualcomm MSM7630 processor, and equipped with 3.6-inch capacitive touch panel and 5-megapixel camera. The EVO Shift 4G runs on Android 2.2 OS.
HTC and Verizon will also unveil jointly a LTE-enabled smartphone, the HTC Incredible HD in the US on January 6. HTC is expected to begin shipping the Incredible HD to Verizon in the second quarter, the sources estimated.
