HTC

HTC Corporation, formerly High Tech Computer Corporation, is a Taiwan-based manufacturer of smartphones. The company initially made smartphones based primarily on Microsoft’s Windows Mobile software, but in 2009 it began to shift its focus away from Windows Mobile devices, to devices based on the Android operating system.


HTC is also a member of the Open Handset Alliance, a group of handset manufacturers and mobile network operators dedicated to the advancement of the Android mobile device platform. The HTC Dream, marketed by T-Mobile in many countries as the T-Mobile G1, is the first phone to the market that uses the Android mobile device platform. It was first released in the United States for pre-order through 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 several days after its USA launch, and has since been introduced in many countries including Australia and Singapore.

HTC’s chairwoman is Cher Wang, daughter of one of Taiwan’s wealthiest men Wang Yung-ching; the President of the company is Peter Chou. In addition to being chair of HTC, Cher Wang is also acting chair of VIA Technologies. HTC’s main divisions, including the IA (Information Appliance) engineering division and the WM (Wireless Mobile) engineering division, are ISO 9001/ISO 14001-qualified facilities. HTC’s CFO is Hui-Ming Cheng.

The company’s growth has accelerated dramatically after being chosen by Microsoft as a hardware platform development partner for the Windows Mobile operating system (based on Windows CE). HTC’s sales revenue totalled $2.2 billion for 2005, a 102% increase from the previous year. It was listed as the fastest growing tech company in BusinessWeek’s Info Tech 100.

HTC runs a small software design office in Seattle where it designs its own interface for its phones.

When HTC was founded it was strictly an original design manufacturer, selling devices like the HTC Wizard as the T-Mobile MDA and the Cingular 8125. Today, many HTC devices such as the Imagio are marketed and sold under the HTC brand.