Alphabet, HTC Ink USD1 Billion Handset Contract to Catch Up With Apple
Xu Wei
DATE:  Jan 31 2018
/ SOURCE:  Yicai
Alphabet, HTC Ink USD1 Billion Handset Contract to Catch Up With Apple Alphabet, HTC Ink USD1 Billion Handset Contract to Catch Up With Apple

(Yicai Global) Jan. 31 -- Taiwan-based High Tech Computer Corp. (HTC), one of the world's largest smartphone original equipment manufacturers and handset makers, has signed a cooperative agreement with Google's parent Alphabet Inc. worth USD1.1 billion, it announced in Taipei yesterday, as state Xinhua News Agency reported. The cooperation will help Alphabet catch up with Apple Inc. in the high-end smartphone market.

HTC staff who participated in manufacturing the Pixel phone will join Alphabet while non-exclusively licensing the intellectual property to the latter. Alphabet will pay USD1.1 billion to HTC as a transaction fee, per the agreement.

The deal will help Alphabet design its consumer electronics hardware and dedicated chips, the style of which is similar to Apple's. Alphabet's latest Pixel phone uses a new graphics processor to enhance its camera.

Alphabet has been producing its own smartphones, but their sales volume has been less than satisfactory. Apple sold 51 million of its smartphones in China, while Alphabet sold a mere 1.5 million of its Pixel handsets, public information shows.

The cooperation will also help HTC focus on its self-owned brand smartphone business and continue the success of its hallmark product HTC U11, while actively preparing the next-generation flagship phone and other products. HTC will continue to build a visual reality ecosystem, further develop its VIVE virtual reality accelerator business and invest in innovation of Internet of Things, augmented reality and artificial intelligence.

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Keywords:   HTC,Alphabet,Apple,M&A