HTC

HTC

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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.