HTC’s Market Value Plummets 75% In 5 Years, Advisor Brought In
Taiwanese-based HTC was once ranked among the world’s leading smartphone manufacturers, however, the last five years have seen the company’s market value fall almost 75% (to US$1.78 billion).
Reports state HTC is working with an advisor, and currently exploring options which could include bringing in an investor, selling off its Vive virtual reality sector, or alternatively, selling off the entire organisation.
Sources state a full sale of the company is not expected, given little likelihood that it will fit with one buyer.
As its smartphone business fell to less than a 2% market share, HTC has begun focusing on high-end virtual reality headsets.
IDC Research Manager for Mobile Phones and Wearables, Ramon Llamas, states:
“Apple and Samsung have made it hard for HTC to stay at the top of the [smartphone] market, and Chinese phone makers have made it hard for HTC to dominate the middle and low end of the market”.
According to research firm IDC, HTC currently holds an 8.4% market share of the AR/VR headset market (as of first quarter of 2017).
For 2017’s first quarter, HTC shipped out more than 190,000 Vive VR headsets.
Announced in June, HTC revealed that its virtual reality headset would be compatible with Apple’s High Sierra operating system, planned for release later in the year.
HTC’s Vive VR competes with Sony’s Playstation VR headset and Oculus’ Rift headset.
HTC’s latest news is a far cry from the company it was in 2002, heralded among the global top smartphone manufacturers, and notably inking a deal with Microsoft to make Windows-based phones.
In 2008, the company created the first Android phone.