HTC Case Brief
Problem:
The problem for HTC is that while smartphone growth for 2011 v. 2012 was 61% in
“Q1 2012 HTC announced a 35% year-over-year drop in revenue that fueled a 70%
decline in operating income” (p. 1).
Diagnosis:
Changing market conditions including: strategic partnerships between Google and
Motorola as well as Microsoft and Nokia, market saturation & price wars for
smartphones and the explosive growth in the new tablet market have left HTC
wondering how to differentiate itself going forward and how to compete in the
tablet market space.
Proof of Diagnosis:
1) In 2012 HTC remained one of the few smartphone manufacturers that was not
forming an alliance or exploring its own OS.
For the Android OS, HTC, who worked with Google in the past, was no longer
Google’s most preferred partner (p.12). Google was giving non-contractual time to
market advantage to its strategic partners. Google’s purchase of the troubled
Motorola Mobility has led to speculation about how Motorola would function under
the Google umbrella.
Microsoft’s OS had been difficult to innovate for HTC in the past which resulted in
