Google Closes $1.1 Billion Deal with HTC
Technology titan Google recently closed a billion-dollar deal with the Taiwan-based mobile manufacturer HTC.
After working together on the Google Pixel 2, Google now owns majority of HTC's mobile design team and the non-exclusive rights to its intellectual property. The $1.1 billion deal was first announced in September of 2017, and has recently been finalized.
Google's senior vice president of Hardware, Rick Osterloh, announced the news and the closing of the acquisition in his personal blog. "I'm delighted that we've officially closed our deal with HTC, and are welcoming an incredibly talented team to work on even better and more innovative products in the years to come," Osterloh wrote.
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The deal involves the acquisition of some 2,000 HTC engineers, including the teams that had worked together with Google in the past, which is around one-fifth of HTC's engineering workforce, and acquiring rights to HTC's designs and intellectual property. The deal was closed for a $1.1 billion payout to HTC.
Google has gained much from this deal, and Osterloh has said it himself, "These new colleagues bring decades of experience achieving a series of 'firsts' particularly in the smartphone industry — including bringing to market the first 3G smartphone in 2005, the first touch-centric phone in 2007, and the first all-metal unibody phone in 2013."
In addition to mobile technology, HTC has been hard at work in its virtual reality (VR) development recently with the release of the HTC Vive headset. This acquisition will only boost Google's hardware value and trade significantly, possibly catapulting the company ahead of its competitors in the mobile development race.
The engineers will remain in Taipei as Google establishes a foothold in Taiwan, making it Google's largest engineering site in the Asia-Pacific region.
Google continues to rapidly expand its business presence in Asia, as it builds its network of companies and offices across the continent, with plans to open an artificial intelligence (AI) laboratory in Beijing, and an office in Shenzhen, Asia's own "Silicon Valley."
