HTC has stopped its share trading ahead of an expected Google takeover of the company’s smartphone division, according to Bloomberg‘s Tim Culpan. Previously, a takeover of the company’s smartphone business was rumored to be done by Google, but not much had emerged from those reports since then. Now, it seems like the move is inevitable what with HTC halting trades of its shares before what’s currently known as a “major announcement.”
JUST IN:
HTC just announced it’s shares will halt trading tomorrow (Thur) pending a major announcement.— Tim Culpan (@tculpan) September 20, 2017
Evan Blass, a pretty well-known leaker with an excellent track record, received a tip which contained an internal invitation for HTC employees to attend a Town Hall meeting to discuss Google’s acquisition of certain hardware divisions. The company will reportedly be keeping its brand in order to likely focus on its own Vive VR products rather other devices like smartphones.
[1] Someone sent me a copy of an internal invitation to an HTC employee Town Hall meeting tmrw (9/21). One alleged topic: Google acquisition
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) September 20, 2017
[2] According to this person, the companies have finalized a deal wherein GOOG will acquire certain HW eng assets, but HTC retains its brand
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) September 20, 2017
Sounds like HTC will focus on VIVE, and wants its brand for that.
— Evan Blass (@evleaks) September 20, 2017
By leaving its smartphone division with Google, HTC will have more room to try and succeed once more. The company hasn’t had a good year in terms of smartphone sales in a relatively long time, and this year’s U11 is a prime example. Regardless of how great the device is according to reviewers, it didn’t sell, and that’s the last thing HTC needed. It’s been no secret the company’s been struggling to keep their smartphone business alive, so it looks like it’s simply time to cop out.
Meanwhile, this move should be pretty beneficial for Google. They’re working hard to create a smartphone business of their own, what with the company and HTC partnering last year on the Pixel and Pixel XL and this year with the Pixel 2. Therefore, buying out what makes HTC smartphones seems like the obvious thing to do in order to become true players in this industry despite causing the other guy to drop off the face of the earth.
Of course, we’ve seen this effort before from Google, what with the search giant also buying out Motorola and owning them for a while before the entire deal went down the drain (this PCMag article does a pretty good job of explaining what went wrong). Hopefully, the company doesn’t make the same mistakes this time around with HTC. Otherwise, there’s no telling what the future of their smartphone business will be.
But hey, the deal isn’t even official yet. It’s expected to be announced tomorrow, so we’ll have to sit tight and wait 24 hours before we learn any more information.
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