Earlier this year, we heard HTC say that they were making a change for the better moving forward into 2012. While the company managed to release a ridiculous amount of phones last year, the manufacturer realized that that wasn’t necessarily the best option, and so has decided to change things up. Focusing on quality over quantity, the company unveiled the One Series, which puts a sharp focus on creating the best hardware, and combining it with the best software possible.

While there’s a bit of a disconnection between the One X here in the States and the One X in other international markets, the focus on hardware and software is obvious. The One Series looks distinct, and has a name that is easy to remember and won’t get lost in the shuffle of other phone releases this year. Even by other companies.

But, that really didn’t last long, did it?

First, the HTC EVO 4G LTE. This device looks the closest to what the new One Series has brought to the table, but at the same time, you still get that EVO look and feel. The name doesn’t help, either. Instead of channeling that same One Series name and look, they decided to go ahead and try and bring back the EVO name. 

For Sprint, that makes a lot of sense. The EVO brand has become pretty stagnant over the last several months and a high-end device like the EVO 4G LTE should do wonders to bringing it back to life. However, it does nothing to show that HTC hasn’t learned from their previous years. Yes, the EVO 4G LTE has good specifications, and it should sell well enough for Sprint, but it isn’t a One Series device, and just falls into the pile of other EVO handsets.

And then there’s Verizon’s rumored upcoming device, the HTC DROID Incredible 4G. This is probably the worst of HTC’s decisions, as the DROID Incredible 4G looks more like the recently released HTC Rezound on Big Red’s network, rather than a direct descendent of the One Series. The ties to the Incredible family are obvious, but the only way you could even hope to connect this new device to the One Series is the usage of HTC’s Sense 4.0, and the three capacitive buttons below the display.

Other than that, it’s just another DROID Incredible. Specifically, it’s just another DROID.

I understand where the carriers like Sprint and Verizon are coming from. After all, they put a lot of interest into their name branded devices, while T-Mobile USA and AT&T aren’t so “dependent” upon them. But I think HTC should have tried a bit harder to get that One Series name in there somewhere, because this does nothing to show me that HTC is planning on not releasing a plethora of phones this year. Sure, there will be some more One Series devices out there, but if this is any indicator of the future, then we won’t be seeing any of those names land on Sprint’s or Verizon’s network.

Is HTC going to stick to their plans in 2012? We can certainly hope so. There are still plenty of months left in the year, with plenty of time to release more high-end smartphones, but still keep that focus on quality over quantity.

We’ll just have to see how it pans out. Do you plan on picking up the DROID Incredible 4G or HTC EVO 4G LTE? Let me know.