Over the years, consumers and tech enthusiasts alike have seen the market share of HTC in the smartphone space decline. Another news has surfaced which points towards growing troubles for the Taiwanese smartphone maker. HTC has made a statement which reveals that the company is going to lay off as much as 1,500 people from its manufacturing plant in Taiwan. The renowned company was on the path of making its name as one of the biggest smartphone giants in the world. HTC was once the name behind one in ten smartphones in the market, however, due to immense competition from other smartphone makers like Apple, Samsung and Chinese smartphone giants, the company has seen a massive decline in market share and sales.
HTC has officially put out the information saying that it would let go of 1,500 employees from its manufacturing unit in Taiwan. The workforce which HTC plans to lay off makes up around a quarter of the 6,450 staff it employed globally as of June. However, troubles and declining sales aren’t the only reason HTC is making this move. The smartphone giant seeks to bring both its smartphone and VR wing under one leadership in the coming months. To further this initiative, HTC will complete laying off 1,500 employees by September this year.
The official statement by HTC said "Today HTC announces a plan to optimise the manufacturing organisations in Taiwan ... This plan will allow more effective and flexible resource management going forward.”
It is also notable that this massive layoff of employees is following another major deal worth $1.1 billion (roughly Rs. 7,500 crores) under which HTC shifted around 2,000 staff to Alphabet's Google. This large chunk of HTC employees, most of whom were handset engineers joined Google late in 2017, post the deal.
The reports have highlighted that the company registered a decline of 55.5% Year-on-Year revenue in April and a 46.7% decline in sales as of March 2018. As per current scenario, the future of HTC has been speculated to be not so bright as it once was. It remains a question as to what more steps the smartphone maker will take to better its position.
