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HTC has a new CEO
HTC announced that it has appointed a former executive from telecom giant Orange, Yves Maitre, as its new CEO. The company said that current chief Cher Wang will step down while remaining chairperson of the company. Wang took over the position from Peter Chou back in 2015.
HTC Vive to demo a 'very big' breakthrough in VR at CES
Regular folks who are eager to get hold of the HTC Vive would have been bummed by the news that it's been pushed to April 2016, but in return, we'll actually be getting a much improved version. At today's Vive Unbound developers forum in Beijing, CEO Cher Wang teased that two weeks ago, Valve and her team made "a very, very big technological breakthrough" with their virtual reality system, so big that they decided to just skip the original version and ship this new one, albeit missing the Q1 date. "We shouldn't make our users swap their systems later just so we could meet the December shipping date." That said, Wang remained mum on what this upgrade is all about, except that it'll be unveiled at CES early next month.
HTC CEO Peter Chou steps down to focus on innovation lab
Given HTC's roller coaster ride in the past few years, it's no secret that Peter Chou had always been more of a product guy than a manager. Well, the time has finally come for him to give up his CEO role. Shortly after the One M9 launch, the Taiwanese phone maker has just announced that Chou will now be the Head of HTC Future Development Lab, as chairwoman and co-founder Cher Wang takes over his CEO position. This news comes as no surprise, given that Wang's been getting more involved in her company's daily operation since two years ago. Little is known about Chou's new division, other than HTC's statement saying he "will be instrumental in identifying future growth opportunities for the Company." If that means we can expect more cool gadgets like the RE Vive and RE Camera, then we say go for it, Chou! But please, no more of that Robert Downey Jr. weirdness.
HTC reportedly lost its Amazon phone deal due to AT&T objections
As you may have noticed, that rumor of HTC making Amazon smartphones never panned out; Amazon ultimately designed the Fire phone itself. But was it a bogus story to begin with? Not if you ask The Information. Its sources claim that HTC landed a deal to make a low-end Amazon phone, but that AT&T freaked out when it heard that it wouldn't have a US exclusive on the device. The carrier reportedly threatened to drop support for the higher-end Fire, forcing Amazon to scrap HTC's project. That may have been a tough decision, as Amazon had supposedly offered to buy HTC before being turned down by its acquisition target's independence-minded chairwoman, Cher Wang.
HTC says the smartwatch battery life issue needs to be solved, plans to launch wearable this year
It's been tough times for HTC. But it's not going to let a little thing like a competitive, over-saturated smartphone market stop it from dipping its toe into the... competitive, over-saturated world of wearables. Talking to Bloomberg about its offering, Chairman Cher Wang said that the company started looking at smart watches "many years ago," and given that it's planning to launch its own wearable this year, it may well have solved the battery issues that have plagued other wearables. Wang added that LCD lighting for these wearables is another problem that the company has tackled and that both were very much "customer-centric problems" -- they're certainly some of the main issues we've had with several premium smartwatches seen so far.
HTC's exiting designers interrogated for expense fraud and stealing trade secrets (updated)
Earlier today, several top designers at HTC were arrested in Taipei under suspicion of fraudulent expense claims, as well as stealing trade secrets ahead of leaving the company to run a new mobile design firm in both Taiwan and mainland China. Five people were interrogated, with the most notable ones being Vice President of Product Design Thomas Chien (pictured above), R&D director Wu Chien Hung and design team senior manager Justin Huang (who also personally sketched out the One's design). Chien and Wu are taken into custody, whereas the others were released on bail (see video after the break). Their offices were also raided yesterday as part of the investigation.
WSJ: HTC working on China-specific mobile OS
Cracking the Chinese mobile-nut is kind of a big deal if you're in the business of selling phones. So, rumors that HTC could be looking to increase the bottom line with a China-specific mobile OS won't see too many eyebrows heading north. The Wall Street Journal claims that Cher Wang herself is closely overseeing the project and is working directly with the state authorities to see it meets approval. This might suggest that the operating system would be entirely bespoke, rather than an Android fork, which would also provide HTC with a plan B, similar to Samsung's efforts with Tizen. The OS is believed to be tightly integrated with China specific services (Weibo etc) and could see the light of day before the end of the year. So is it actually Hello To China?
HTC denies sale rumor amid poor Q3 outlook
Poor HTC just can't get a break. Earlier this week, EE Times' famed Chinese analyst Alice Sun posted a rather worrying rumor on Sina Weibo: apparently HTC chairwoman Cher Wang is giving up making mobile phones, and that she's already put her company on the market with a price. While Sun is usually known for reliable insights, this particular piece of gossip was quickly shot down by HTC, including China head Ray Yam who allegedly responded to a text message inquiry from Mobile China Alliance's secretary. At yesterday's corporate family day event, Wang also assured her colleagues that HTC will not be sold, according to Taiwanese publication UDN. The following statement we received from HTC more or less echoes Wang's speech at the event: "Based on recent inquiries related to rumors that HTC is looking to sell the company, we want to confirm that those rumors are untrue. HTC is committed to innovation and will continue to deliver new designs and products to consumers worldwide. We appreciate the support and affirmation of our customers and have new initiatives underway to further build our global presence and a full resurgence of the HTC brand." Despite having deleted the original weibo post "for some peace and quiet," Sun implied in a follow-up post that time will tell the truth. Well, regardless of the outcome, good thing HTC has Tony Stark on its side.
HTC's Peter Chou flashes M7 at company gathering, screams the name
Guess who's super excited about HTC's upcoming flagship phone? Why, Peter Chou, of course! At the company's year end party in Taipei earlier today, the CEO went on stage to thank the M7 team for working overtime last week in order to finalize the device this week, according to cnYES. Surprisingly, Chou then decided to openly play with the yet-to-be-released M7. "This event today is a great opportunity for testing [the camera]. I was still testing it just now," the exec is seen saying in NextTV's clip (available at the source link), followed by him whipping out a silver edition and a black edition of the phone. While the video clips available aren't of decent enough quality for some detailed close-ups of the M7, we can just about make out a super slim body with two distinctive lines on the back -- nothing quite like the leaks we've seen so far. Judging by the size, it does seem to match up with the rumored 4.7-inch screen size, but that's all we have for now. HTC's chairwoman Cher Wang added that she looks forward to launching the phone later this month, and naturally, so do we. After the break we have a clip of Chou enthusiastically shouting "M7" a few times with his homies -- it's OK, feel free to join along. Update: The YouTube account that hosted the original video's been closed, so we've embedded a backup of the clip.
HTC CEO issues rallying call to staff, tells them to 'kill bureaucracy'
HTC's Peter Chou is having his own "burning platform" moment after sending a company-wide email, leaked to Bloomberg, entitled "We are coming back." The CEO, shocked at recent sales dips has talked of a company lacking "decision, strategic direction or [a] sense of urgency" and requested that employees should "kill bureaucracy." He praised the success of the well-lauded One X, but said that the company's own "processes, rules and norms" could be stumbling blocks, instead urging employees to "follow rules and criteria, but don't let small things kill the major goals." The missive has already been confirmed as real by an HTC spokesperson, who probably promptly burned a stack of TPS reports to demonstrate their commitment.
Cher Wang: HTC will grab as many patents as it can
HTC co-founder and chair Cher Wang has said that her company plans to register and buy a host of patents in order to maintain parity with its competition. Speaking at the firm's 15th anniversary party, she said that despite being unable to use S3 Graphics' patents in ongoing litigation, the company will register and purchase patents in a variety of "different fields." It looks like we can expect to see a lot more filings at the USPTO in the future, and perhaps a few more buyouts along the way. [Image Credit: WSJ / Zuma Press]
HTC chairwoman Cher Wang: we might buy a mobile OS, if it feels right
Samsung seems to be the go-to company these days when it comes to mobile OS acquisition rumors, but now it looks like HTC's on the proverbial hot seat. According to an interview by The Economic Observer in China, chairwoman Cher Wang has affirmed that HTC is at least mulling the idea: "We have given it thought and we have discussed it internally, but we will not do it on impulse." The report goes on to make strong mention of HP's recently-backstabbed webOS platform, but stops short of suggesting that it's the only OS in the running. Continuing on, Wang stated: "We can use any OS we want. We are able to make things different from our rivals on the second or third layer of a platform. Our strength lies in understanding an OS, but it does not mean that we have to produce an OS." Of course, that's a cheerleading session surrounding the outfit's polarizing Sense overlay, and we're guessing that webOS would eventually look a heck of lot different under HTC's control. On second thought, maybe Wang's actually trying to acquire iOS -- she sure seems to love those Apple stores!
Caption Contest: HTC Chairwoman Cher Wang drops by Apple's Palo Alto Store
So what if Apple might be suing your company for millions and billions of dollars? You're Cher Wang and Cher Wang shops wherever she damn well pleases. HTC's co-founder and Chairwoman was recently photographed taking a leisurely gander at Apple's wares, with husband Wen-Chi Chen -- who just happens to be CEO of VIA Technologies -- tagging along as well. The Palo Alto Geniuses look to have been their usual friendly selves, though their failure to put an iPhone in Mrs. Wang's hands qualifies as a major missed opportunity in our eyes. Thomas: "In Taiwan, iPhone means horse." Josh F.: "Go ahead, cuff me if you can." Dana: "A stylus! You know. You hold it like this." Vlad: "Cher Wang thought impersonating a zombie would help her blend in with the Apple Store patrons. As we can tell from the unperturbed employees, she was right." Brad: "If you can guess which hand the candy's in, you win!" Terrence: "...and this is my trusty servant Patsy." Amar: "I'm sorry, Mrs. Wang, we're all out of dirtbikes."
HTC buyout of Dopod in final stages: i-mate, O2, HP wail
Continuing their skyrocket beyond ODM-dom, HTC's buyout bid for Taiwanese Dopod has moved into the final stages. Having signed a memorandum of understanding, the only thing left in the estimated $150 million deal is approval from the Taiwanese government. Assuming HTC chairwoman and Dopod controlling shareholder Cher Wang, daughter of petrochemicals billionaire Y.C. Wang and wife of HTC boss-man Peter Chou, has enough influence to push this through (read: she does), then HTC is about to find themselves in direct competition with their own customers O2, i-mate and HP. HTC already confirmed their decision to self-brand phones in Europe, now the Dopod deal could result in HTC designs being sold exclusively under the Dopod branding outside of Europe. In fact, HTC has already cut ties with both O2 and i-mate in Australia, New Zealand, and India. So if Dopod's claim that HTC manufactures 80 percent of Windows Mobile phones is true, well, O2, i-mate, and HP best be looking for fresh design and manufacturing blood on the quick. [Thanks, Ash]
