HTC stands for High Tech Computer and it was the first OEM to launch a smartphone powered by Android. After that, the company had a very good track record. This was the first smartphone brand to introduce metal unibody design, dual camera setup and USB type C port.
What happened?
In the last 13 years of the smartphone business, everything didn’t go well for them. In fact, in the last 2 years, the company has seen huge losses. Now Google has two choices, either they can become a partner or can completely buy out the shares for the entire HTC mobile entity. However, HTC is not selling its virtual reality brand HTC Vive.
The partnership with HTC and Google is not new, in fact, the Google Pixel and the upcoming Google Pixel 2 will be manufactured by HTC itself. So, the deal makes a lot easier to complete their future projects.
When it comes to the partnering with the OEM’s Google don’t have good track record. In fact, Google bought Moto mobility solution in 2012, then sold off the same to Lenovo within two years. (Keeping Google Ara project). Software giant like Google pairing with hardware brand HTC can raise a lot of eye brows.
We have seen many smartphone market leaders like BlackBerry, Nokia, Motorola Mobility and now HTC has seen both dawn and dusk in their life time, however, there are few brands like Samsung and Apple the only existing market leaders from early 2000s to till date. What do you think about this crucial strategic partnership, will it save HTC from the trap? or Google might find a new strategic partner to sell the brand in few months.
Let us know about your views, do you think Google is doing the right thing?