Google may be buying all or part of electronics firm HTC after trading of the stock of the Taiwan-based maker of smartphones and VR headsets was halted.
HTC is halting trading of its shares, fueling speculation the Taiwan-based electronics firm may be acquired in all or part by Google.
The Taiwan Stock Exchange announced Wednesday that trading would be halted starting Thursday „pending the release of material information.“
That news was first spotted by Bloomberg Gadfly columnist Tim Culpan, who also referenced Apple Daily, a Taiwan local media site, which was reporting Google will acquire HTC’s phone manufacturing operations.
HTC reportedly has a town hall planned for Thursday, according to VentureBeat mobile reporter Evan Blass who tweeted that someone had sent him an invitation with one of the alleged topics Google’s acquisition of some HTC hardware assets.
Google could not be immediately reached for comment.
Google was among the companies HTC reportedly met with last month as the maker of smartphones and Vive virtual reality headsets examined its strategic options, according to Bloomberg, which cited persons familiar with the matter.
Among the possibilities: Google could acquire HTC altogether, or perhaps more likely pick off assets, whether from HTC’s smartphone business or its Vive virtual reality division, the latter a rival to Facebook’s Oculus Rift.
HTC was once a dominant player in the global smartphone market, peaking at 10.8% in the third quarter of 2011, but held just 0.5% in the quarter that ended June 30, says Neil Mawston, executive director of London-based research firm Strategy Analytics.
Google and HTC have had chummy relations before, with the Taiwanese smartphone maker having delivered hardware for Google in the past, including last year’s Google Pixel phones. It is expected to make at least one of the rumored new Pixels expected to be announced by Google on Oct. 4. (LG out of Korea could produce another).
„Google would be taking a risk by taking over HTC, but any sale price is likely to be relatively tiny for Google’s deep pockets,“ Mawston said. „HTC would be saved from financial collapse, while Google would get access to HTC’s modest pool of patents, software expertise, operator relationships, and ability to continue building Google’s Pixel smartphone range.“
During the most recent quarter, Google Pixel accounted for only 0.2% of global smartphone shipments, according to Strategy Analytics.
Google has gone this route before, and not successfully, having purchased Motorola Mobility for about $12.5 billion in 2012, before selling it off to Lenovo for a fraction of the price only a couple of years later. Google did hold on to patents.
For its part, HTC was an early Android mainstay, and has had a strong track record in delivering phones that garnered critical approval. The problem, though, is that over the last several years, HTC branded phones have barely moved the needle sales-wise, as the company not only lost ground to the most dominant of all the Android players, Samsung, but also to various Chinese rivals such as Huawei.
Follow USA TODAY reporter Mike Snider and columnist Edward C. Baig on Twitter: @MikeSnider & @edbaig.
