HTC to expand its US reach in 2014 by launching a greater variety of phones

HTC seems to understand that it needs to do something to get its products into more hands. That's the sentiment that exec Jason MacKenzie expressed to us today after the company's Desire press event. Said MacKenzie, "You can expect to see more devices in the US that reach out to more market segments." Among these new devices, he tells us, is the new Desire 816 announced at today's show. Such a move shows that while the HTC One was one of our favorite devices of the year, it simply wasn't enough to make a significant enough impact in market share; by offering phones at a variety of price points, HTC believes that more people will take notice of its products as they hang out on store shelves. And if the company can keep up its ability to make tempting handsets with good build quality and low enough prices to compete, it likely will have a much larger impact in the US than anything Robert Downey Jr. can have.