HTC news: Company launches smartphone giveaway promo in the United States

Customers look at HTC smartphones in a mobile phone shop in Taipei July 30, 2013.Reuters/Pichi Chuang

Taiwanese consumer electronics company HTC is giving away one free mobile phone to a lucky United States resident each week until the end of 2016.

"Every Friday we're giving you a chance to win an HTC phone from our recent history," reads the post on HTC USA's Twitter account.

The promo, called Free Fone Fridays, was launched on Nov. 4 and will continue for the next seven Fridays, until Oct. 30.

According to the HTC website, there is no purchase needed. All one has to do to enter the draw is to fill out an online form and to follow the company on Twitter and Facebook to find out if they've won. There are restrictions, though: only legal residents of the U.S. may join, and they have to be at least 18 years old.

Multiple entries are not allowed. Participants have to submit an entry for each week that they want to join. For instance, the second entry period started on Nov. 5 and ends on Nov. 11, while the third one begins on Nov. 12 and ends on Nov. 18. The eighth and final entry period is from Dec. 24 to Dec. 30.

HTC has not announced which phones they will be giving away, but the first unit on the list was an HTC One M9, a model that the company released in March 2015. The Taiwanese electronics device manufacturer is also known for its other phone models, like the HTC 10, the HTC Desire 530, the HTC One A9, the HTC Desire EYE, the HTC One M8 for Windows, among others.

Meanwhile, there are rumors that the company will be releasing a phone called HTC Desire A17 when it launches the HTC Bolt. According to Phone Arena, the HTC Bolt will be made available exclusively on Sprint starting Nov. 11.

The HTC Desire 530, released in March, reportedly bore the codename HTC A16. Although not much is known about its rumored successor, leaker LlabTooFer tweeted that it will run on Android 6.0.1 and Sense 8.0. Phone Arena predicts that the Desire A17 will be an entry-level phone. The HTC Bolt, on the other hand, is said to be a high-end model.

Fans should look out for more surprises from HTC.