[One (M7) General] hamdir:
which brings me to my next point:

Western obsession with financial numbers

In all honesty I don't understand this obsession with quarter results by the media and many people as well, it's a fact of life companies suffer from up and downs, we have many examples as well, Nokia, Blackberry, Sony and now even Microsoft, but after years of doom and gloom posts about Sony, look at them rebounding now, same goes for Nokia who are doing good in the value segment

we've been patronizing HTC so badly simply because they have been at the top temporarily few years back and now drifting down, yes they have done some fatal mistakes, people like product lines, mainly you don't build a successful product like the HTC Desire and then kill it with endless swarm of product names and brands, i remember just last year people were still asking about a new HTC Desire and i had to explain how the top line is now the HTC One series, the iPhone and Galaxy lines are solidified in people's perception, due to years of the product experience building their confidence.

Thankfully this is solved now, with one main product line / flagship leading all others, the HTC One, thanks to this device I never saw such respect and brand/product recognition for HTC in public

Equally everyone is so surprised about HTC's recent first loss prediction, the key word here is that it's their first loss, companies can survive years on losses until it becomes overwhelming or unsustainable, you have been all asking for advertising, fact of the matter HTC usually played it safe with their money, this is why they never posted a loss before, they are selective with their expenses, this time around they are pushing more aggressively with a world praised product that is expensive to make, in fact they state their reasons clearly, next quarter will see loss due to increased operational expenses

Some news outlets liked to say the HTC One failed, this is an absurd statement, as a product this has been a tremendous success, it's just held back for different reasons, like initial delay and cost to build it, plus not one company can survive on one product, and as clearly stated in the press release they lack competitiveness in the low end

The product also failed to invade markets worldwide simultaneously, but it's now available in much more countrie, sales are still ongoing and there are no real competition in the same size range until early next year, the iPhone 5s will not turn heads as it is a product refresh, the SG4 will not be replaced till the SGS5 next year, all we have are Moto X and LG G2 but i don't see how these products will push HTC One buyers away

No one can deny the momentum / brand awareness created from this product, for example in my country years after the HTC Diamond first appeared we finally have official presence of HTC in Lebanon and no one is stupid to go into such an investment with a "dying company"

The HTC One expenses, advertising and costs should be considered as an investment to empower the brand, I am not denying that HTC is in the red, but what i am trying to highlight, that this obsession and early doom prophecies are just that pre mature, amplified by drama / attention seekers, such investment is possible to reap it's benefits in the longer run, provided no mistakes are done and they continue empowering the HTC One brand, it should stay as HTC's "iPhone" or HTC's "Galaxy"

Kia was in the red just a couple of years and now they are one of the biggest car companies in the world, yes they have merged with their local enemy Hyundai but the transition has been seamless to the customer, in fact thanks to this merge they have never been stronger

So it's foolish to think a strong brand with strong competing products like HTC will die, even with a merger, the brand, teams and entity will remain, for the customer nothing will change

Besides there is one more factor, these eastern companies do not operate like we like to visualize, they are more traditional, more personal, more tribal even, HTC CEO is one of the richest people in the world, solutions will always be found to prevent a company like this from dying, when the Verge and BGR like to make it sound that "HTC is on the edge of extinction", it's more likely viewed internally "HTC is just going through a rough phase"

Someone gave a stupid example, that the One S OTA cancellation relates to their financial situation, this destroyed this person logic's to my eyes, we all know the One S real story (snapdragon 3 drivers) so people outside the HTC scene, all they can do is judge things blindly

Again I am not saying they are not in trouble currently but I seriously can't see why the customer should be concerned until they see signs of brand services eroding, or bad products, finance is their problem not ours, unless we are all in XDA stock exchange

It's a phone running the world strongest mobile OS, not a games console, a phone lifetime peaks out in 18 months officially, you can even use it for years on it's first firmware thanks to the playstore, there are no real risks buying from a struggling OEM, ask all Lumia 920 lovers

just my two cents