HTC
Pictures of Product:
History
HTC was founded in 1997 by Cher Wang, HT Cho, and Peter
Chou. 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
has a rich heritage of many "firsts", including creating the first
Microsoft-powered smart phone (2002) and the first Microsoft 3G phone (2005).
Their first major product was made in 2000 and was one of the world's first
touch screen Smart phones.
The Palm Treo 650 and the iPAQ were created by HTC. They
started producing 3G-capable phones in early 2005 and made the world's first
Android phone in 2008, the HTC Dream (also marketed as the T-Mobile G1).
It was first released in the United States for pre-order
through T-Mobile USA on September 23, 2008, and became available in U.S.
T-Mobile stores on October 22, 2008.
The G1 was available in the UK several days after its USA
launch, and has since been introduced in many countries including Australia and
Singapore. In 2009, the company launched the HTC Sense interface for the
platform with the HTC Hero.
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 Smartphone 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.
HTC was named the "Device Manufacturer of the
Year" for 2011 by the GSMA at the Mobile World Congress on 16 February
2011.In April 2011, the company's market value surpassed that of Nokia to
become the third largest Smartphone maker in the world, only behind Apple and
Samsung.
On July 6, 2011 it was announced that HTC would buy VIA
Technologies' stake in S3 Graphics, thus becoming the majority owner of S3.On
August 6 2011, HTC acquired Dash wire for $18.5M. In August 2011, HTC confirmed
that HTC will be entering a strategic partnership with Beats Electronics by
acquiring 51 percent of Beat's shares.
In the 2011 Best Global Brands rankings released by
Inter-brand, HTC was listed at #98 and valued at $3.6 billion. Based on
researcher Canalys, in Q3 2011 HTC Corporation became the largest smart phone
vendor in the U.S. by 24 percent, ahead of Samsung's 21 percent, Apple by 20
percent and Blackberry just 9 percent. HTC Corporation made different models
for each operator.
Corporate information
HTC's chairwoman is Cher Wang who is the
daughter of the late Wang Yung-ching, Taiwan's petrochemical industrial giant
and one of Taiwan's wealthiest men. Peter Chou serves as President and CEO, 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.
How the business started
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 is
also currently working with Google to build mobile phones running Google's
Android mobile OS. HTC's sales revenue totalled $2.2 billion for 2005, a 102%
increase from the prior year. It was listed as the fastest-growing tech company
in BusinessWeek's 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.
Product range
When HTC was founded it
was strictly an original design manufacturer, selling devices such as the HTC
Wizard as the T-Mobile MDA and the Cingular 8125. The company focused on
telecom operators who were willing to pay a contract manufacturer for customized
products. Today, many HTC devices (e.g., Incredible, Evo 4G) are marketed and
sold under the HTC brand, though its main focus still remains with smart
phones.
Innovations
On February 17, 2010,
Fast Company ranked HTC as the 31st most innovative company in the world.
Bloomberg reports that HTC is assessing creating its own mobile operating
system to compete with Apple's iOS, Googl e's Android, and Microsoft's Windows
Phone. On May 27th 2011, in response to customer feedback, HTC announced that
they will no longer lock the boot loaders on their Android based phones.
Sports Sponsorship
HTC sponsored the
HTC-Highroad cycling team, currently the most successful team in professional
cycling from 2009 to 2011. The Team will disband in 2012 due to lack of
sponsorship and investment.
