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H. HTC in 2009 (Global Strategy: Market Entry and Competitive Advantage)
Case Abstract HTC Corporation, formerly High Tech Computer Corporation is a Taiwanese manufacturer of smartphones and tablets headquartered in New Taipei City, Taiwan. Founded in 1997, HTC began as an original design manufacturer and original equipment manufacturer, designing and manufacturing devices such as mobile phones, touchscreen phones, and PDAs based on Windows Mobile OS and Brew MP to market to mobile network operators who were willing to pay a contract manufacturer for customized products. After initially making smartphones based mostly on Windows Mobile, HTC expanded its focus in 2009 to devices based on the Android, and in 2010 to Windows Phone. As of 2011, HTC primarily releases and markets its smartphones under the HTC brand, ranking as the 98th top brand on Interbrand’s Best Global Brands 2011 report. A September 2013 media report stated that HTC's share of the global smartphone market is less than 3 percent and its stock price has fallen by 90 percent since 2011. HTC is a founding member of the Open Handset Alliance, a group of handset manufacturers and mobile network operators dedicated to the development of the Android mobile device platform. The HTC Dream, marketed by T-Mobile in many countries as the T-Mobile G1 or Era G1, was the first phone on the market to use the Android mobile device platform.
Case Questions
1. Evaluate HTC’s performance to date. What are its competitive advantage and vulnerabilities?
2. What should HTC’s OS strategy be? Should it stick with Windows Mobile and Android? Should HTC build its own platform, or add/drop others?
3. All smartphone companies with operating systems have open their own application stores, trying to apple’s emulate success. Samsung and LG announced plans to do the same, as well. Should HTC build its own application store, or should it do something else?
4. Peter Chou and Cher Wang want to make HTC into the leading
Case Abstract HTC Corporation, formerly High Tech Computer Corporation is a Taiwanese manufacturer of smartphones and tablets headquartered in New Taipei City, Taiwan. Founded in 1997, HTC began as an original design manufacturer and original equipment manufacturer, designing and manufacturing devices such as mobile phones, touchscreen phones, and PDAs based on Windows Mobile OS and Brew MP to market to mobile network operators who were willing to pay a contract manufacturer for customized products. After initially making smartphones based mostly on Windows Mobile, HTC expanded its focus in 2009 to devices based on the Android, and in 2010 to Windows Phone. As of 2011, HTC primarily releases and markets its smartphones under the HTC brand, ranking as the 98th top brand on Interbrand’s Best Global Brands 2011 report. A September 2013 media report stated that HTC's share of the global smartphone market is less than 3 percent and its stock price has fallen by 90 percent since 2011. HTC is a founding member of the Open Handset Alliance, a group of handset manufacturers and mobile network operators dedicated to the development of the Android mobile device platform. The HTC Dream, marketed by T-Mobile in many countries as the T-Mobile G1 or Era G1, was the first phone on the market to use the Android mobile device platform.
Case Questions
1. Evaluate HTC’s performance to date. What are its competitive advantage and vulnerabilities?
2. What should HTC’s OS strategy be? Should it stick with Windows Mobile and Android? Should HTC build its own platform, or add/drop others?
3. All smartphone companies with operating systems have open their own application stores, trying to apple’s emulate success. Samsung and LG announced plans to do the same, as well. Should HTC build its own application store, or should it do something else?
4. Peter Chou and Cher Wang want to make HTC into the leading