HTC moves aside CFO who oversaw $300 million Beats Audio deal (update)
HTC's CFO Winston Yung has been shunted into a 'corporate development' role after barely a year on the job. He orchestrated some pretty controversial deals during his tenure, including the $300 million purchase of the Beats Audio brand from Dr. Dre -- an acquisition that has so far shown little value except as a marketing device. Yung also occupied the hot seat while HTC's balance sheet suddenly flipped from brilliant to bad and then worse, and was outspoken in his views of what went wrong. HTC has provided no reason for the job shift, leaving analysts to guess at how the company's strategy will change to capitalize on its new One smartphones and battle against Sammy's imminent contender. The new CFO is Chia-Lin Chang, a former Goldman Sachs partner and Motorola engineer who hopefully knows how to handle pressure.
Update: HTC's own CEO Peter Chou has taken time to respond to analyst reports. His quote follows:
On Monday, HTC announced the appointment of Chia-Lin Chang as Chief Financial Officer withWinston Yung, his predecessor, transitioning to a corporate development role.
"Media speculation that ties this announcement to HTC's partnership and investment in Beats By Dre is categorically inaccurate," said Peter Chou, CEO of HTC Corporation. "HTC and Beats have made impressive progress in innovation and brand awareness and the integration of the Beats brand and technology in the new HTC One series is a clear indication of our commitment to this partnership."
