{"id":355139,"date":"2017-09-21T08:27:50","date_gmt":"2017-09-21T08:27:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=355139"},"modified":"2017-11-10T11:17:17","modified_gmt":"2017-11-10T11:17:17","slug":"google-signs-1-1bn-htc-smartphone-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2017\/09\/google-signs-1-1bn-htc-smartphone-deal\/","title":{"rendered":"Google signs $1.1bn HTC smartphone deal"},"content":{"rendered":"
Alphabet’s Google has struck a $1.1bn (\u00a3822m) deal with Taiwan’s HTC to expand its smartphone business.<\/p>\n
Google will not take a stake in the firm, but some HTC staff will join the Silicon Valley giant.<\/p>\n
The Taiwanese company was once a major player in the smartphone market but has struggled to compete with the likes of Apple and Samsung.<\/p>\n
Google expects the deal to close by early 2018, provided it gets the all clear from regulators.<\/p>\n
Shares in HTC were\u00a0suspended\u00a0in Taiwan on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Betting on hardware<\/strong><\/p>\n The deal marks the latest move by Google to boost its hardware capabilities.<\/p>\n “It’s still early days for Google’s hardware business,” the firm’s senior vice-president of hardware Rick Osterloh said in a\u00a0blog post\u00a0on Google’s website.<\/p>\n Under the deal, Google will acquire a team of people who develop Pixel smartphones for the US company and receive a non-exclusive license for HTC’s intellectual property.<\/p>\n It builds on an existing partnership between the two tech companies.<\/p>\n “These future fellow Googlers are amazing folks we’ve already been working with closely on the Pixel smartphone line,” Mr Osterloh said.<\/p>\n According to HTC half their smartphone research and development team – about 2,000 people – will go to Google.<\/p>\n HTC manufactures Google’s smartphones, the Pixel and Pixel XL. The company will release updated version of the devices next month.<\/p>\n