HTC Profile: from Obscurity to Acclaimed Recognition

HTC has been one of the fastest growing technology companies over the past three years, yet much of the public in the western world knows little about this Taiwanese firm. As 2010 moves along, HTC’s relative obscurity will be replaced by recognition and acclaim. Formerly just an original design manufacturer (ODM), which supplied handheld devices like PDAs and smartphones to big name clients, HTC officially launched its own branded smartphone in 2006 with the Blackberry-like Excalibur. In 2007, HTC released its preemptive counter to the iPhone, the Touch (Windows Mobile 6), which was generally criticized for its poor TouchFLO UI, mediocre screen, and lack of 3G. Years later, after significant maturity, together with Google and its Android operating system, HTC is preparing to compete against the established smartphone hierarchy in North America.

Early Days:
Cher Wang (chairwoman) and Peter Chou (CEO and president) co-founded HTC back in 1997. Microsoft backed the small but budding company, which was then known as High Tech Computer Corp., and commissioned it to produce PDAs and smartphones exclusively for Windows Mobile. Soon, HTC began expanding its output and started to manufacture cell phones and concept UMPCs like the Advantage and the Shift (powered by Windows Vista). HTC has blossomed from a tiny factory into a multinational corporation that employs nearly 10,000 globally.

Android:
In 2007, HTC beat Apple to the smartphone touchscreen market by introducing the Touch. However, the handheld had its problems. Aside from being not as esthetically slick as the iPhone, the Touch suffered from HTC’s first generation TouchFLO, which was superimposed over Microsoft’s Windows Mobile 6, an operating system never intended for touchscreen use. Enter Google and its advanced, touch capable Android operating system.

Google established the Open Handset Alliance on November 5th 2007. The collaborators include giants such as Intel, Texas Instruments, LG, and of course, HTC. Under a year later, on September 23rd 2008, HTC unveiled the T-Mobile G1, which is the world’s first Android smartphone. Since then, many other Android handsets have been released, but HTC remains the leader of the pack. Arguably the biggest accomplishment in the company’s history is the newly released Google’s Nexus One smartphone built by HTC. Still making numerous Windows Mobile devices and now pioneering the Android push, HTC is positioned to rise from the depths of obscurity.

A Scintillating Future:
With a thorough background in producing handheld devices for over a decade, revenues in excess of $3.65 billion USD (2007), strong and longstanding ties and partnerships alongside “Intel, Texas Instruments and Qualcomm,” “some of the largest mobile operators including Orange, 02, T-Mobile, Vodafone, Cingular, Verizon, Sprint and NTT DoCoMo,” and the freshly formed relationship with Google, HTC is expected to lead the lucrative and burgeoning smartphone market. HTC is so confident in its vision and future that the company is spending $100 million USD for an advertising campaign to raise its profile and to elevate itself to that of a household name.

One of HTC’s major television commercials captures its mission statement:

In addition to making hardware for the Android OS, HTC also implements its “Sense” software into every smartphone. CEO Peter Chou delivers a keynote about “Sense”:

Sources: HTC’s Company Info, HTC’s Advertising Campaign