These are bad times for the HTC mobile firm. Up to five of the senior managers on whom the future of the company rests sing a farewell song and leave ship within just three months. Among all of them, the one that is most striking is the last one that has just been known. The abandonment of Kouji Kodera, the man who has led the firm's strategy for this year. One of the architects of the HTC One being the great bet of the Taiwanese company for 2013.
However, at the moment it is not clear to what extent Kodera 's departure is related to the plans of the firm exposed in the HTC One. Or put another way: there are already those who point out possible disagreements between the opinion of the former head of HTC product and the insistence of Peter Chou (CEO of the company) to make said device not only a flagship, but a fleet based on a single ship, according to the American media outlet The Verge.
Kodera is not, as we say, the only one to leave HTC. Before the product manager, VP of Global Communications Jason Gordon was also resigning. The same path taken by Rebecca Rowland and John Starkweather "" two of the top managers in the marketing department of HTC "" and Eric Lin, who like Kodera, was at the top of the decision about the company's product strategy. And all in a period close to three months. Microsoft and the North American operator AT&TThese have been the destinations in which the latter former HTC managers have collected.
Something must be wrong with HTC. At least, if we listen to the advice that Lin gives to the friends he keeps in the Taiwanese company. In an entry posted on Twitter by him, he does not hesitate to advise those who continue at HTC to "quit", noting that "it is hard to do so, but you will be much happier, I swear. " The company, for its part, was more conciliatory and diplomatic in the case of the departure of Jason Gordon, about whom he stated that "we appreciate his contribution in recent years and who we hope will do well in the future." HTC states that it continues to invest in talent as part of its human resources strategy to ensure continued growth of the company.
The HTC One is the current hope of the Taiwanese firm. There are few objections to this. The company has designed a really interesting terminal, and a strong candidate to fight in the most distinguished of the smartphone market. Far from proposing a strategy like that of Samsung or Nokia "" which resort to the war of attrition through the periodic launch of various devices for various segments of the public "", HTC has opted for the Apple formula, that is, to concentrate all its excellence in a letter.
In the last three years the company has been publishing a series of balance sheets that are presented in a downward curve. Sales are not going well, and while Samsung pushes for the highest, some manufacturers that until very recently were peripherals "" such as the Chinese ZTE or Huawei "" step on the accelerator and are already watching the Taiwanese in the rear view mirror. This is the visible version. But it seems that, to add insult to injury at HTC, there is another behind closed doors.
