The resignation of HTC president of smartphone and connected devices Chailin Chang didn’t really come as a surprise given the company’s public difficulties for that sector of its business in the U.S. market. It looks like that’s just the beginning of the changes that the company will be making as there are reports that they have laid off a large number of their U.S team. The only ones left in the US office are the ones working for HTC Global.
The “employee reductions” number anywhere from a few dozen to maybe a hundred or so, according to sources. The official statement from a spokesperson said that they are currently restructuring their North American smartphone and VR business and bringing them “under common leadership in each region.” Employees were previously informed about the restricting and just a week after Chang’s resignation, some of them have now been informed they’re out of a job.
Despite this latest development, they may still introduce a new flagship, which will probably be the HTC U12 and may be announced in the coming months. There’s still a probability of an exit in the U.S. market in terms of smartphones and they will just focus operations in other countries where sales aren’t that bad. And they did sell a large part of their smartphone division to Google, so an imminent closure is really in the cards.
It will make sense also to focus on the VR business. The HTC Vive, their virtual reality headset, has been the bright spot for the company in terms of sales so there might be hope in that direction.
VIA: Digital Trends
