Taiwanese manufacturer HTC is planning to introduce a stripped down variant of its U11+ smartphone in order to better compete in the mid-range segment. No specifics are known about this upcoming smartphone, but Digitimes is reporting that the phone is expected to make its debut in January 2018.

We will most likely hear from HTC about this phone at the next month’s CES trade fair.

To remind you, HTC U11+ is the company’s current flagship smartphone and was originally introduced in November this year. It features a 6-inch Super LCD 6 screen with Quad HD+ (2880x1440p) resolution. The phone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 octa-core processor and packs 4GB/ 6GB of RAM and a 3930 mAh battery.

In more HTC news, the manufacturer is also said to be working on the HTC U12, which will succeed the U11+ and arrive sometime in 2018. The phone will reportedly feature a 4K screen, Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 octa-core processor and dual-lens rear camera.

This is not the first time we are hearing about the presence of a dual-camera in an HTC phone. The company’s president Chialin Chang had told the media at the U11+ launch event in Taipei last month that HTC is going to bring a dual-camera phone next year and they were looking on how to make the feature standout. HTC had used dual camera in its Evo 3D smartphone a few years ago to capture 3D images, but it is yet to offer a phone with dual-camera to capture normal photographs.

Given that HTC is losing a significant chunk of its engineering and design team to Google, the company is also planning to trim its overall smartphone portfolio. So, I don’t expect to see many new HTC phones in 2018.

Source: Digitimes