they’re functionally extinct

Yes, the joke in the meme is that Sony is the only “flagship” company that still has those features.

(Though calling them a flagship company might be a little generous)

As for HTC, it’s possible that another company bought the rights to the name, i’m not sure. They were making VR headsets for a while, so it’s possible they just backed out of the phone market and did something else.

Either way, the phone looks good, with some minor tweaks and some proper long term support it could be a serious competitor