HTC has sent out teasers for the much rumoured One M10

9 months ago

HTC has offered the first official preview of its next flagship smartphone by posting a moody image of the phone’s outline on social media.

That accompanying hashtag appears to confirm that this will be the One M10, the next instalment in HTC’s premium phone production line.

The Taiwanese firm has used Mobile World Congress to announce the new One in recent years, but broke with that tradition this year by not holding a press conference, and instead having a low-key introduction for three new mid-range Desire phones, as well as announcing the retail price for its virtual reality headset, Vive.

There’s no mention of a date for the launch, though there have been rumours of an event in April to officially unveil it. The M10 will come at a crucial time for HTC, which has struggled over the last year following a poor return on last year’s M9, and a series of other launches that failed to grab the public’s imagination.

The One A9, released towards the end of 2015, also struggled to reverse company fortunes, despite some big design tweaks.

Financial concerns have crept in, and a 15% cut of the company’s workforce was announced last summer.

While VR and Vive are providing some light at a dark time, critics are suggesting that the M10 needs to be a hit for HTC, or bigger troubles could lie ahead.