Those of you who follow TmoNews may have already heard about Project Emerald. The initial rumor was that T-Mobile was working on bringing the HTC Desire to their customers some time this summer. But now things are shifting in a different direction and Project Emerald may be even better than we initially thought.

New rumors indicate that HTC will be manufacturing a new handset for T-Mobile which will sport the Sidekick brand. The HTC handset would sport a 1GHz processor, Android 2.1, 16GB of on-board storage, front facing camera, and a 4.3 inch Super ALOMED display. Rumors are also flying around that the phone will be called “Sidekick Twist”.

At this point, it’s hard to distinguish facts from fiction. Though we would like to believe that all the details are true, some of them just don’t seem to add up. Yes, HTC already has a 4.3 inch device on T-Mobile (HTC HD2) and another one on the way to Sprint (EVO 4G) which also sports a front facing camera, but a Super AMOLED display is patented by Samsung and they still have not released any handset of their own that sport one of them. Also, the name Sidekick Twist would imply that the phone swivels or twists to display a keyboard, but the leaked info makes no mention of one and if you’ve ever held the HTC HD2 or the EVO 4G, it’s hard to imagine that phone with a keyboard.

We’re not trying to debunk the whole rumor, just trying to clear some things up so that you aren’t too disappointed when we get the real facts on Project Emerald. Here’s a list of the most credible scenario based on the rumor:

• HTC made phone with Sidekick branding
• Large AMOLED display
• Front facing camera
• 1GHz snapdragon processor
• 16GB on-board storage
• Android 2.1

We’re sure we’ll be getting more details on this mysterious handset as the next few weeks unfold. How many of you would actually be interested in an HTC phone with the Sidekick name?

Source: TmoNews

HTC is off to a great start for 2010.  Chief Executive Peter Chou recently mentioned that HTC is trending better than expected for the year: “It looks like the growth in the U.S market is faster than others.”  He did not elaborate on which handsets are contributing to the market growth, but we can speculate that the DROID Eris, myTouch 3G Fender Edition, and the new T-Mobile HTC HD2 has a lot to do with it.  According to HTC’s annual report, they shipped between 5.5 and 6 million phones in the U.S. in 2009.  With Sprint’s HTC Evo 4G and Verizon’s HTC Incredible right around the corner, HTC should see significant growth and additional brand recognition. 

“They [Verizon and T-Mobile] started treating us as their first-tier suppliers last year,” Mr. Chou said, “It was difficult for us [to boost our sales] without their support. But their endorsements became a strong momentum” for growth.

HTC has also noted that their first-quarter net profit rose 3.1% over last year.  Analysts believe HTC’s drive to improve brand recognition may be paying off and causing consumers to actually take notice of the brand for the first time in the U.S. market.  Revenues at HTC rose 19% to NT$37.7 billion from NT$31.59 billion, much higher than the predicted NT$32 billion and NT$34 billion. 

Revenues at HTC are expected to increase even more over the next few quarters as HTC starts to reap more benefits from their “YOU” marketing campaign that has rolled out in Europe and America.  They also plan on seeing huge growth in the Chinese market and expect to sell four million to five million units by 2011, up from 1.6 million units sold in 2009. 

Source: The Wall Street Journal