HTC Corp (宏達電), which supplies VIVE virtual-reality (VR) headsets, yesterday said that Google LLC has agreed to buy its extended reality (XR) intellectual property (IP) and acquire some of its XR-related research and development (R&D) employees for US$250 million with an aim to expand its ecosystems of Android-based XR and smart glasses.
The agreement might be similar to a deal HTC clinched with Google in 2018. At the time, Google offered US$1.1 billion to acquire about 2,000 R&D workers, who helped create Google’s first Pixel phone, as well as access to IP owned by HTC.
The Taoyuan-based company yesterday declined to disclose the number of R&D workers involved in the XR-deal with Google.
Photo: Reuters
HTC believes it would still have sufficient R&D resources to develop new innovative products following the transaction, company spokesman Lu Chia-te (盧佳德) told a media briefing at the Taiwan Stock Exchange in Taipei.
Lu made the remarks in response to questions about whether HTC is capable of rolling out impressive products with a downsized R&D team, as the firm has substantially streamlined its smartphone business as a result of the disposal of the team in the Pixel deal.
At the end of March last year, HTC had hired 2,073 employees, with less than 2 percent holding a doctorate degree, the company’s annual report showed.
“This agreement reinforces HTC’s strategy of continued development around the XR ecosystem, enabling a more streamlined product portfolio with a focus on platforms, greater operational efficiency and financial flexibility,” Lu said.
“HTC’s commitment to deliver innovative VIVE XR solutions, such as the VIVE Focus Vision, remains unchanged, with existing product lines and solutions to be supported and developed without interruption,” he added.
The new deal with Google would grant the US technology giant non-exclusive access to HTC’s XR IP, meaning HTC would also have the right to utilize that IP to develop new XR devices, Lu said.
By utilizing HTC’s XR IP, Google would be able to accelerate the expansion of its Android-based VR headsets and smart glasses ecosystems, Lu said.
HTC would not rule out the possibility of exploring new partnerships with Google in the XR area, Lu said.
The companies are to wrap up the transaction this quarter, he said.
The company has been struggling to eke out a profit over the past six-and-half years. Losses widened to NT$2.6 billion (US$79.34 million) in the first three quarters of last year, compared with losses of NT$2.5 billion in the same period of 2023. That translated into losses of NT$3.12 per share, worsening from NT$3.01.
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