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If a horde of investors calling HTC a worthless business wasn’t enough to convince you the Taiwanese company is in trouble, perhaps this next bit of news will. HTC will reportedly lose its spot on the Taiwan 50 Index, a list of 50 of the most valuable stocks on Taiwan’s Stock Exchange.
It was HTC’s hope that the launch of the One M9 would help turn the boat around in 2015, but due to stagnation in design and innovation it hasn’t performed nearly as well as they’d wanted it to. It didn’t help that there were equally — if not more so — strong options from Motorola, LG, and Samsung on tap. The company also couldn’t cash in on the mid-range market, with a large chunk of Chinese manufacturers offering more compelling options in that price bracket.
All this turmoil has caused HTC to take a complete about face on their strategy, even going as far as having to cut 30% of their workforce and cut their product line a significant amount. Those moves are expected to merely slow the bleeding, but HTC’s going to need a long-term fix if they want to avoid becoming the saddest downfall in tech.
One of the ways they’re hoping to do so is by offering a variety of different consumer tech products that appeal to a wider range of consumers. Their HTC Re line is proof positive of this as they didn’t make them exclusive to owners of HTC phones.
They also have one of the most advanced VR headsets coming up with the HTC Re Vive, though that particular product category might be a bit too young for it to move the needle in a significant way. And if plans for an Under Armour-branded line of fitness wearables are still in the cards then it might become a primary focus for the company alongside launching their next big smartphone.
Even under the best case scenarios, though, some analysts believe HTC won’t even be able to turn a profit until 2017, and by then it might be far too late for them to recover. Considering HTC’s name was once nearly synonymous with the word “smartphone” it’s a bit saddening to see them stumble out of grace. Fingers crossed that they can make something happen, because it always sucks to see another good company be forced to bow out of the game.
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