Edible Apple

Despite the fact that the iPad continues to sell like Lebron James jerseys in Miami, HTC currently has no plan to release a tablet device of their own. Speaking to Pocket-lint, HTC’s global PR and online community manager Eric Lin explained that there are currently far to many companies looking to cash in on the tablet craze to justify HTC throwing it’s hat in the ring.

We are always looking at it, but, right now, the whole idea is that in order to be successful with a tablet, you need to have something compelling. And not just a compelling form factor.

You need to find that compelling use, that compelling story, that one compelling feature. And we are not going to do anything until we have found that.

You’ve seen how, at Computex, there were 80 different Android tablets. So if we just release an Android tablet, then we’re one of 81… Whereas, if we have a compelling feature, a really compelling use, anything like that, then it’ll help us to stand out. It’s going to take a lot of work searching for that.

HTC is no stranger to the tablet business, however. Before HTC became enamored with Android, it released a slew of tablet devices running various implementations of Windows, such as the HTC Advantage and HTC Shift. Not surprisingly, HTC’s tablet offerings didn’t take the market by storm. To wit, the battery life on the HTC Shift, originally released in early 2008, checked in at a paltry 2 hours. Price wise, HTC’s tablet lineup hovered in the $1500-$1800 range and poor sales ultimately prompted HTC to abandon the market altogether.