HTC

 

HTC Corporation is a Taiwanese manufacturer of smartphones and tablets headquartered in Taoyuan City, Taiwan. Initially making smartphones based mostly on Microsoft's Windows Mobile operating system (OS) software, HTC expanded its focus in 2009 to devices based on the Android OS, and in 2010 to Windows Phone OS.

HTC is a member of the Open Handset Alliance, a group of handset manufacturers and mobile network operators dedicated to the development of the Android mobile device platform. The HTC Dream, marketed by T-Mobile in many countries as the T-Mobile G1 or Era G1, was the first phone on the market to use the Android mobile device platform.

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.

At the Mobile World Congress on 16 February 2011 the GSMA 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-largest 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 Inc.'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 Inc.According to analyst firm comScore, HTC only accounted for 9.3% of the United States smartphone market as of February 2013. Many analysts believe that the company's newest flagship phone, the HTC One, will provide a great opportunity to win back support from customers. This phone means so much to the company that current Chief Executive Peter Chou has told executives that he will step down if the phone fails to sell well. However, the 2013 first quarter results saw its year-over-year profit drop by 98.1%, making it the smallest ever profit for HTC; one of the factors for the dip being the delay in the launch of HTC One.