Google closes its $1.1B HTC deal to own its smartphone division

Google has officially acquired HTC’s smartphone design division in the $1.1 billion deal including 2,000 designers and non-exclusive license for intellectual property. After the finalization, HTC is retaining its Vive VR division and will continue to make its own smartphones. The company will also pursue innovations in AR, AI and IoT technology.

A substantial part of HTC’s smartphone development team has already worked on Google’s Pixel hardware, and this deal will further bolster Google’s hardware development. This also gives Google a new engineering base in Taipei, Taiwan, where HTC is located. Rick Osterloh, Google’s senior VP of hardware, said in a 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. 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.”

Along with its hardware expansion in the Asia Pacific, the company is focusing on its mission to create radically helpful experienced for people around the world by combining the best of Google’s AI, software and hardware. The team joining Google will work on the Pixel 3 series which will probably be launched in the final quarter of the year.