HTC Corporation (Chinese: å®é"國際電å股份有é™å…¬å¸; pinyin: Hóngdá Guójì Dià nzÇ GÇ"fèn YÇ'uxià n GÅngsÄ«>) (High Tech Computer Corporation) is a Taiwanese consumer electronics company headquartered in Xindian District, New Taipei City, Taiwan. Founded in 1997, HTC began as an original design manufacturer and original equipment manufacturer, designing and manufacturing laptop computers.
After initially making smartphones based mostly on Windows Mobile, HTC became a co-founding member of the Open Handset Alliance, a group of handset manufacturers and mobile network operators dedicated to the development of the Android mobile operating system. The HTC Dream, marketed by T-Mobile in many countries as the T-Mobile G1, was the first phone on the market to run Android.
HTC later shifted to marketing its own devices, including the HTC One series. In 2011, HTC ranked as the 98th top brand on Interbrand's Best Global Brands report. A September 2013 media report stated that HTC's share of the global smartphone market was less than 3 percent. While rising back to 7.2 percent in April 2015 due to its strong sales of recent devices, its stock price had fallen by 90 percent since 2011, and the company experienced consecutive net losses.
In 2016, HTC expanded into virtual reality hardware with the release of HTC Vive.
In 2017, HTC announced a $1.1 billion deal with Google, wherein Google acquires a non-exclusive license to intellectual property of HTC as well as a transfer of 2000 employees, mainly tied to the Pixel phone lineup.
History
A history of HTC's Android designs - Get the new HTC 10 on Amazon: http://geni.us/HTC10 | Read full article: http://goo.gl/OopCT7 Looking at the HTC 10's new look made us think about the company's past. Here's all the memorable...
Cher Wang (王雪紅), H. T. Cho (å"ç«åœŸ), and Peter Chou (å'¨æ°¸æ˜Ž) founded HTC in 1997. Initially a manufacturer of notebook computers, HTC began designing some of the world's first touch and wireless hand-held devices in 1998. The company is credited with creating the first Android smartphone, the first Microsoft-powered Windows CE smartphone with Siemens Mobile (2002) and the first Microsoft 3G phone (2005). Their first major product, one of the world's first touch-screen smartphones, appeared in 2000. As an ODM for HP and Palm, HTC built the HP iPAQ and the Palm Treo 650.
In 2007 HTC acquired the mobile-device company Dopod International.
In October 2010, HTC launched the brand tagline "quietly brilliant", and the YOU campaign, HTC's first global advertising campaign.
In June 2010, the company launched the HTC Evo 4G, the first 4G-capable phone in the United States. In July 2010, HTC announced it would begin selling smartphones in China under its own brand name in a partnership with China Mobile. In 2010 HTC sold over 24.6 million handsets, up 111% over 2009.
In 2011, HTC started working with Luxgen. Luxgen vehicles are engineered to 'Think Ahead' for their drivers. Armed with advanced technology designed by Taiwan's global smart phone leader HTC, Luxgen vehicles are equipped with a suite of advanced features to preempt road conditions and potential hazards. All Luxgen vehicles feature a state of the art onboard computer system, dubbed the 'Think+', which, for the first time ever, combines HTC smart technology and Windows CE Automotive interface.
At the Mobile World Congress on 16 February 2011, the GSM Association named HTC the "Device Manufacturer of the Year" for 2011. In April 2011, the company's market value surpassed that of Nokia, making HTC the third most highly valued smartphone-maker in the world behind Apple and Samsung.
On 6 July 2011, it was announced that HTC would buy VIA Technologies' stake in S3 Graphics, thus becoming the majority owner of S3. On 6 August 2011, HTC acquired Dashwire for $18.5M. In August 2011, HTC confirmed a plan for a strategic partnership with Beats Electronics involving acquiring 51 percent of Beats' shares.
The 2011 Best Global Brands rankings released by Interbrand, listed HTC at #98 and valued it at $3.6 billion. Based on researcher Canalys, in Q3 2011 HTC Corporation became the largest smartphone vendor in the U.S. with 24 percent market share, ahead of Samsung's 21 percent, Apple's 20 percent and BlackBerry's 9 percent. HTC Corporation made different models for each operator.
During early 2012, HTC lost much of this U.S. market share due to increased competition from Samsung and Apple According to analyst firm comScore, HTC only accounted for 9.3% of the United States smartphone market as of February 2013. In light of the company's decrease in prominence, Chief Executive Peter Chou had informed executives that he would step down if the company's newest flagship phone, the 2013 HTC One, had failed to generate impressive sales results. HTC's first quarter results for 2013 showed its year-over-year profit drop by 98.1%, making it the smallest-ever profit for the companyâ€"the delay of the launch of the HTC One was cited as one of the factors. In June 2012, HTC moved its headquarters from Taoyuan City (now Taoyuan District) to Xindian District, New Taipei City.
On 14 January 2013, HTC launched its smartphones in Burma, which will come with the world's most advanced Burmese language on-screen keyboard.
In August 2013, HTC debuted a new "Here's To Change" global marketing campaign featuring actor Robert Downey, Jr., who signed a two-year contract to be HTC's new "Instigator of Change." On 15 August, HTC began airing the new marketing campaign on YouTube, prior to the campaign's appearance in television and cinema advertising schedules.
On 27 September 2013, HTC announced that it sold back its entire stake of Beats (24.84 percent) to Beats Electronics. The company will close the deal in Q4 of 2013 and expectsa US$85 million pretax profit.
The 2013 HTC One was released in mid-2013 and, subsequently won various industry awards in the best smartphone and best design categories, but global sales of the HTC One were lower than those for Samsung's Galaxy S4 flagship handset and HTC recorded its first ever quarterly loss in early October 2013: a deficit of just under NT$3 billion (about US$100m, £62m). Marketing problems were identified by HTC as the primary reason for its comparative performance, a factor that had been previously cited by the company.
Following the release of the HTC One, two variants were released to form a trio for the 2013 HTC One lineup. A smaller variant named the HTC One Mini was released in August 2013, and a larger variant named the HTC One Max was released in October 2013. Similar in design and features to the HTC One, the upgraded aspects of the One Max include a display measuring 5.9 inches (15Â cm), a fingerprint sensor and a removable back cover for expandable memory. The product was released into the European and Asian retail environment in October 2013, followed by a US launch in early November 2013.
In March 2014, HTC released the HTC One (M8), the next version of the HTC One flagship, at press conferences in London and New York City. In a change from previous launches, the HTC One was made available for purchase on the company website and North American mobile carrier websites on the same day a few hours after the launch.
In April 2014, HTC reported sales climbing 12.7 percent to NT$22.1 billion, the company's fastest growth since October 2011. In September 2014, Google selected HTC to make its Nexus 9 tablet.
On 1 March 2015, HTC unveiled Vive, a virtual reality head-mounted display in collaboration with Valve Corporation. In June and October 2015, HTC reported net losses; the company has faced increased competition from other smartphone makers, including Apple Inc. and Samsung Electronics, and other newcomers, which had resulted in a decline in its smartphone sales, as well a major loss of market share. On 30 September 2016, HTC globally launched Viveport, its VR app store focused on non-game VR experiences.
On 12 January 2017, HTC unveiled the HTC U Ultra and the HTC U Play, the first two devices in its new U series of smartphones. On 16 May 2017, HTC announced the U11, the successor to the previous year's HTC 10.
Litigation
In March 2010, Apple Inc. filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission claiming infringement of 20 of its patents covering aspects of the iPhone user interface and hardware. HTC disagreed with Apple's actions and reiterated its commitment to creating innovative smartphones. HTC also filed a complaint against Apple for infringing on five of its patents and sought to ban the import of Apple products into the US from manufacturing facilities in Asia. Apple expanded its original complaint by adding two more patents.
On 10 November 2012, Apple and HTC reached a 10-year license-agreement covering current and future patents held by the two companies. The terms of the agreement remain confidential.
In February 2013, HTC settled with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission concerning lax security on more than 18 million smartphones and tablets it had shipped to customers and agreed to security patches.
Corporate information
HTC's chairwoman and acting CEO is Cher Wang who is the daughter of the late Wang Yung-ching, founder of the plastics and petrochemicals conglomerate Formosa Plastics Group. Peter Chou serves as head of the HTC Future Development Lab, and HT Cho as Director of the Board and Chairman of HTC Foundation. HTC's CFO is Hui-Ming Cheng. In addition to being chair of HTC, Cher Wang is also acting chair of VIA Technologies. HTC's main divisions, including the IA (Information Appliance) engineering division and the WM (Wireless Mobile) engineering division, are ISO 9001/ISO 14001-qualified facilities.
The company's growth has accelerated dramatically since being chosen by Microsoft as a hardware platform development partner for the Windows Mobile operating system (based on Windows CE). HTC also works with Google to build mobile phones running Google's Android mobile OS such as the Nexus One. HTC's sales revenue totalled $2.2 billion for 2005, a 102% increase from the prior year. In 2005 it was listed as the fastest-growing tech company in BusinessWeeks Info Tech 100.
HTC has invested strongly in research and development, which accounts for a quarter of its employees. The company's North American headquarters are located in Bellevue, Washington. HTC runs a software design office in Seattle (near its North American headquarters) where it designs its own interface for its phones. In 2011, HTC also opened a research and development office in Durham, North Carolina, a location the company chose over Seattle and Atlanta, to focus on multiple areas of wireless technology.
HTC focuses on its customer service. In the UK, US, India, and other countries the focus on service has increased and with the opening of various service points for customers, service has improved. HTC is investing and continually improving on its customer service support in India and other growing markets.
On 17 February 2010, Fast Company ranked HTC as the 31st most innovative company in the world. Bloomberg reports that HTC is considering its own mobile operating system to compete with Apple's iOS, Google's Android, and Microsoft's Windows Phone. On 27 May 2011, in response to customer feedback, HTC announced that they will no longer lock the bootloaders on their Android based phones.
On 21 September 2017, HTC announced a transaction with Google, in which it will acquire a portion of HTC's smartphone business for US$1.1 billion. This purchase covers the acquisition of non-exclusive licenses to certain HTC intellectual property, and selected HTC employees (including, in particular, those who assisted in the production of Google's Pixel smartphone, which was manufactured by HTC).
The company intends to maintain a smartphone business following the sale; HTC CEO Cher Wang stated that this "cooperation agreement" would "ensure continued innovation within our HTC smartphone and Vive virtual reality business". And according to Rick Osterloh from Google, HTC employees have been "working with closely on the Pixel smartphone line, and we're excited to see what we can do together as one team."
Google will use the purchase to bolster its in-house hardware business. In December 2017, the Taiwanese Investment Commission has approved the deal. On 30 January 2018, the transaction was completed.
Sports sponsorship
Cycling
HTC sponsored the HTC-Highroad professional cycling team from 2009 to 2011.
Association football
In 2012, HTC became the official smartphone sponsor of the UEFA Champions League and UEFA Europa League. The contract will last for three years and makes HTC one of the main sponsors of the two competitions. HTC also became the shirt sponsors for the Indian Super League franchise NorthEast United FC for the 2014, 2015 and 2016 season.
Cricket
HTC is the sponsor of Punjab-based Indian Premier League franchise Kings XI Punjab.
eSports
HTC sponsors professional eSports teams Team SoloMid, Cloud9, Team Liquid, and J Team, (formerly known as Taipei Assassins).
HTC sponsored a Super Smash Bros. Melee tournament, HTC Throwdown, which was held on 19 September 2015, in San Francisco. At the end of 2015, the company also sponsored the creation of that year's SSBMRank, the annual rankings of the best Melee players in the world.
See also
- Comparison of HTC devices
- HTC Sense
- TouchFLO
- TouchFLO 3D
References
External links
- Official website
