HTC confirms it will release a wearable device later this year

HTC Chairwoman Cher Wang has confirmed to Bloomberg that the company plans to sell its first wearable device by the end of this year.

The firm has apparently been working on wearable form factors for some time now, and it is almost ready to ship the product. Elaborating on the challenges HTC faced, Wang told the publication:

Many years ago we started looking at smartwatches and wearables, but we believe that we really have to solve the battery problems and the LCD light problems.

While the upcoming device is technically a first for HTC, the company did work with Microsoft on a smartwatch years ago.

HTC suffered sagging revenue and earnings performance last year. The company missed Wall Street expectations with its Q4 2013 earnings results. Despite being well-received by critics, HTC’s flagship One smartphone has disappointed on sales.

With its entrance into wearables, HTC is set to enter an increasingly crowded market. In addition to existing players like Fitbit, Jawbone and Pebble, several major consumer electronics makers are betting big on the wearable market later this year.

Sony, for instance, introduced a new wearable platform called SmartBand at CES last month, while Samsung is expected to announce an update to its Galaxy Gear watch at the Mobile World Congress trade show later this month. Qualcomm released a limited-production watch last year showing off various screen and power management technologies that it has developed for wearables.  Apple, Google and Microsoft have also been rumored to have smartwatches in the works.

Image credit: Mandy Cheng / AFP / Getty Images