By Eva Dou
TAIPEI – When ailing smartphone maker HTC is another leader of board. The chief of operations of the Taiwanese company, Matthew Costello, has resigned. Costello thus joins a number of executives, which have left the Samsung rivals over the past month.
HTC is standing with its back to the wall. The company experienced in international competition last more and more into the background, and in April was the worst quarterly performance since the year 2006. Last month, the chief product Kuoji Kodera, Vice President of Communications Jason Gordon and the President of the South Asia Business Lennard Hoornick had already left the company.
Since then CEO Peter Chou is increasingly becoming the center of attention. Chou trying for some time to steer the company back on track. He had informed person, according to even announced his resignation in the event that the new flagship HTC One brings the sales figures of the company not return to the track.
The resignation of Costello have personal reasons as HTC. “Costello will pull back to Europe for family reasons,” the company said. Fred Liu, former head of HTC engineering department will take over its function. Costello joined HTC in 2010, having previously worked for four years for Sony Ericsson.
The smartphone maker has struggled in the major industrial countries with declining market share. Especially in the U.S. and Europe compete with the Taiwanese top dogs Apple and Samsung to customers – but also in emerging markets such as China, the demand for HTC phones is declining. Reason are also low-cost carriers, which decrease HTC market share.
Between 2010 and the end of 2012 shrank the global market share of the company by more than half to 4.6 percent. According to market researcher IDC, HTC was the second half of 2012 compared to deliveries no longer among the top five of the smartphone maker. In the first quarter of 2013, the company generated a profit equivalent to just 2.2 million euros.
addition to fierce competition, there were also setbacks for HTC at the launch. The new smartphone flagship One could be put on the market because of supply problems in parts of the cameras in March until late. After sale beginning there were further supply shortages.
The HTC one is widely seen as the last chance of the company regain market share in smartphones. The first sales figures at least give reason for hope: HTC said on Tuesday that the company’s turnover had increased in May, mainly thanks to the One series on a 11-month high. That should please also CEO Chou.
Contact the author unternehmen.de @ dowjones.com
DJG / DJN / kpu / kla
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