Google invests over one billion dollars in HTC

HTC and Google have just made official a $1.1 billion agreement whereby Google has access to HTC’s patents, and a substantial proportion of HTC’s smartphone design and engineering team will move to work for Google.

While the specific details of the deal have not yet been disclosed, one question has been answered preemptively by HTC’s press release: the company’s own-brand smartphone business will carry on with at least one more flagship.

“This agreement also supports HTC’s continued branded smartphone strategy, enabling a more streamlined product portfolio, greater operational efficiency and financial flexibility. HTC will continue to have best-in-class engineering talent, which is currently working on the next flagship phone, following the successful launch of the HTC U11 earlier this year.”

Google Jumps Back into Hardware

Google and HTC might be able to build new VR technologies for the Vive ecosystem in addition to smartphones. The two companies are already cooperating with the upcoming self-sufficient VR glasses Vive Focus for Daydream, which is expected to come on the market in November and cost between $500 and $600. Google would thus have a strong competition product for Facebook’s Oculus Rift, which is already established as a brand and is positively charged.

When the first batch of made-by-Google devices was unveiled, the Google’s hardware exec Rick Osterloh said that Google’s big hardware effort is not just a passing fancy. “This is a natural step and we’re in it for the long run,” he said. The acquisition of the HTC team looks like further proof of this commitment.

On Twitter, Vives China President Alvin Wang Graylin said: “HTC is now more than ever before focused on building a new ecosystem for virtual and augmented reality.”