HTC launches smartphones in Myanmar

Want China Times, CNA 2013-01-16

The first new exclusive HTC concept store opens in Myanmar. (Photo/HTC)

Taiwanese handset maker HTC started selling customized smartphones in Myanmar on Monday through a local partner, hoping to establish a presence in the untapped mobile market.

HTC signed a distribution contract with KMD Computer Group, Myanmar's largest IT and mobile distributor, to sell six of its smartphones — the Butterfly, One X+, One X, Desire X, Desire and Desire C — in the Southeast Asian country.

In addition to opening new exclusive HTC concept stores in big cities such as Yangon and Mandalay, KMD also will also set up service centers to serve HTC customers and sell HTC accessories exclusively in the growing market, HTC said in a statement.

HTC worked with Sanmyanmar, a software developer in Myanmar, to customize Google's Android operating system for the new market.

The customized HTC devices will have a Myanmar-language onscreen keyboard and fonts allowing users to read and type more easily, the statement said.

Myanmar users of mobile phones and computers currently need to install fonts in their own language because no unified international standard for Myanmar language symbols exists, making it difficult to integrate the language into software.