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History
HTC was founded in 1997 by Cher Wang, HT Cho, and PeterChou. Initially a manufacturer of notebook computers, HTC began designing someof the world's first touch and wireless hand-held devices in 1998. The companyhas a rich heritage of many "firsts", including creating the firstMicrosoft-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 firsttouch screen Smart phones.
The Palm Treo 650 and the iPAQ were created by HTC. Theystarted producing 3G-capable phones in early 2005 and made the world's firstAndroid phone in 2008, the HTC Dream (also marketed as the T-Mobile G1).
It was first released in the United States for pre-orderthrough 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 severa l days after its USAlaunch, and has since been introduced in many countries including Australia andSingapore. In 2009, the company launched the HTC Sense interface for theplatform with the HTC Hero.
In June 2010, the company launched the HTC Evo 4G, the first4G-capable phone in the United States. In July 2010, HTC announced itwou ld begin selling Smartphone in China under its own brand name in apartnership with China Mobile. In 2010, HTC sold over 24.6 million handsets, up111% over 2009.
HTC was named the "Device Manufacturer of theYear" for 2011 by the GSMA at the Mobile World Congress on 16 February2011.In April 2011, the company's market value surpassed that of Nokia tobecome the third largest Smartphone ma ker in the world, only behind Apple andSamsung.
On July 6, 2011 it was announced that HTC would buy VIATechnologies' stake in S3 Graphics, thus becoming the majority owner of S3.OnAugust 6 2011, HTC acquired Dash wire for $18.5M. In August 2011, HTC confirmedthat HTC will be entering a strategic partnership with Beats Electronics byacquiring 51 percent of Beat's shares.
In the 2011 Best Global Brands rankings released byInter-brand, HTC was listed at #98 and valued at $3.6 billion. Based onresearcher Cana lys, in Q3 2011 HTC Corporation became the largest smart phonevendor in the U.S. by 24 percent, ahead of Samsung's 21 percent, Apple by 20percent and Blackberry just 9 percent. HTC Corporation made different m odelsfor each operator.
HTC's chairwoman is Cher Wang who is thedaughter of the late Wang Yung-ching, Taiwan's petrochemical industrial giantand one of Taiwan's wealthiest men. Peter Chou serves as President and CEO, andHT Cho as Director of the Board and Chairman of HTC Foundation. HTC's CFO isHui-Ming Cheng.In addition to being chair of HTC, Cher Wang is also actingchair of VIA Technologies. HTC's main divisions, including the IA (InformationAppliance) engineering division and the WM (Wireless Mobile) engineeringdivision are ISO 9001/IS O 14001-qualified facilities.
How the business started
The company's growth has accelerateddramatically since being chosen by Microsoft as a hardware platform developmentpartner for the Windows Mobile operating system (based on Windows CE). HTC isalso currently working with Google to build mobile phones running Google'sAndroid mobile OS. HTC's sales revenue totalled $2.2 billion for 2005, a 102%increase from the prior year. It was listed as th e fastest-growing tech companyin BusinessWeek's Info Tech 100.
HTC has invested strongly in research anddevelopment, which accounts for a quarter of its employees. The company's NorthAmerican headquarters are located in Bellevue, Washington. HTC runs a softwaredesign office in Seattle (near its North American headquarters) where itdesigns its own interface for its phon es. In 2011, HTC also opened a researchand development office in Durham, North Carolina, a location the company choseover Seattle and Atlanta, to focus on multiple areas of wireless technology.
Product range
When HTC was founded itwas strictly an original design manufacturer, selling devices such as the HTCWizard as the T-Mobile MDA and the Cingular 8125. The company focused ontelecom operators who were willing to pay a contract manufacturer for customizedproducts. Today, many HTC devices (e.g., Incredible, Evo 4G) are marketed andsold under the HTC brand, though its main focus still remains with smartphones.
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 operatingsystem to compete with Apple's iOS, Googl e's Android, and Microsoft's WindowsPhone. On May 27th 2011, in response to customer feedback, HTC announced thatthey will no longer lock the boot loaders on their Android based phones.
Sports Sponsorship
HTC sponsored theHTC-Highroad cycling team, currently the most successful team in professionalcycling from 2009 to 2011. The Team will disband in 2012 due to lack ofsponsorship and investment.
References:
http://www.htc.com/www/
http://www.facebook.com/HTCMalaysia