HTC's sales have taken a nosedive, and for good reason. HTC revolutionized what we can call a premium smartphone with the introduction of the all-metal HTC One M7 back in 2013. Unfortunately since then HTC has done everything but revolutionize. "If it ain't broken, don't fix it." is HTC's motto. The HTC One M8 and M9 have both been mild upgrades, with similar designs. Before the M9's release, leaked renders showed an amazing design upgrade. Everyone, myself included, was excited for this. Unfortunately it was dead wrong, the M9 ending up barely different aesthetically to the M8. I believe their lack of sales are due to an unwillingness to adapt to the changing smartphone market, similar to BlackBerry back in the day.

Leaked HTC One M9 renders which were dead wrong.

When HTC does choose to make some changes, they aren't good ones. HTC's flagships have been criticized for using experimental "ultrapixel" technology, which in the end delivered worse photos than traditional counterparts. Sense, HTC's skin over Android, has been updated with BlinkFeed, a sorry excuse for a news source plastered over your home screen. BlinkFeed even includes advertisements, which is ridiculous. What other trustworthy smartphone manufacturer has advertisements enabled by default on the homescreen?

The real HTC One M9.

Ultimately, HTC has to release something like the leaked M9 to gain back any footing in the smartphone industry that they've lost. They need to create a better interface which doesn't revolve around exploiting their customers for advertising, or better yet, adopt a stock-like feel like what Motorola has done. If HTC is really serious about gaining traction, they'll release a phone like this for a competitive price around the cost of a Huawei Nexus 6P. ($499) Otherwise, I just can't see HTC climbing its way back to the top.

Sources: Ars Technica, HTC