HTC might have cancelled its plans to launch the HTC One M8 Prime this year, but a new leak suggests the company hasn’t completely given up on releasing a Prime variant of its flagship at some point in the future. According to @evleaks, HTC will refresh its One lineup with the HTC M9 and HTC M9 Prime next year, with the Prime version to hit market shelves first.
Both the M9 and the M9 Prime will launch in the first quarter of 2015, similar to existing HTC flagships. However, considering all the advancements that we’re sure to see making their way to flagship smartphones in the coming months, it would certainly be interesting to see where the M9 Prime would stand compared to the standard M9. Perhaps HTC will launch the latter at a lower price point, possibly with a plastic build or a lower-end camera, though at such an early stage of these rumors, it’s hard to speculate on just what the Taiwanese manufacturers plans could be for the coming year.
@evleaks also says that the HTC M8 Prime will “likely remain deadpooled,” though with some of the recent missteps in the leakster’s usually accurate leak record, it’s best to take the latest scoop on HTC’s future device plans with a pinch of salt. Two premium flagship phones could certainly benefit HTC more than any other manufacturer given its financial issues, and hopefully we will soon be able to start putting together a better picture of what the company may be up to here.