Taiwanese smartphone company HTC launched Exodus 1 model back in 2018. Exodus 1 was a blockchain-focused phone designed for cryptocurrency trading. But the smartphone did not catch on with people and failed the Taiwanese company to compete with Android giants like Samsung. Earlier this month, HTC introduced a line a crypto-mining function on its Exodus smartphone to let users validate transactions on a 270-plus GB blockchain.
Exodus lets users mine cryptocurrency.
HTC designed the Exodus model at first as a handset that lets users keep data and cryptocurrency assets private and secure on a device rather than in the cloud where it can be seen. But the company has also added the feature of mining cryptocurrency on the handset, meaning adding crypto transactions to the public blockchain ledger and try to be the first to authenticate those trades in exchange for rewards. Usually, crypto mining is done by powerful computers that solve mathematical problems to mine cryptocurrency. However, tech analysts still believe that it won’t be a big revenue driver for HTC.
Exodus 1 could spark a trend among smartphone developers.
According to a Forbes report, the HTC smartphone stands to change crypto mining if it sparks a trend among smartphone developers. An HTC spokesperson pointed out that it could be an important breakthrough for the crypto community created by the Exodus handsets. The spokesperson said that they are constantly looking to innovate and bring what is best for the crypto community and blockchain ecosystems into smartphones. Neil Mawston, executive director of Strategy Analytics, said that the Taiwanese mobile manufacturer HTC is trying to democratize mobile crypto mining by making it cheaper and more accessible.
HTC has expanded its virtual reality headgear over the past few years while launching fewer flagship handsets overall. The market share of its smartphones has fallen since a 10.7% peak in 2011 as rival Android handset developers overtook. The sale of handsets also dropped overall in the last two years.
