HTC to Acquire Dopod

[Darius Wey]

<div class='os_post_top_link'><a href='http://www.htc.com.tw/news/press060602.html' target='_blank'>http://www.htc.com.tw/news/press060602.html</a><br /><br /></div><i>"High Tech Computer Corp. (HTC; TAIEX: 2498) today announced that the company has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with Dopod (Cayman) Holding Corporation ("Dopod"). HTC will acquire over 50% of Dopod shares as Dopod becomes HTC's subsidiary. The transaction value will not surpass US$150 million. The alliance between Dopod and HTC will make the synergy to provide the best service to operators and end users. The transaction details, the business cooperation plans, the rights and obligations of both, and other related affairs will be evaluated and negotiated in the near future."</i><br /><br />This is an interesting move. With the acquisition in place, HTC hopes to gain a greater appreciation of the mobile market by evaluating the needs and wants of the end-users. Could this mean that HTC will finally respond to user requests about creating devices with, say, more RAM, more ROM, VGA screens, and the kitchen sink? Time will tell.

[WorksForTurkeys]

Maybe HTC will gain a product line to compete with Quanta's Atom; perhaps something like the Dopod 818?

[Darius Wey]

Maybe HTC will gain a product line to compete with Quanta's Atom; perhaps something like the Dopod 818?

Gain a product line? HTC is the manufacturer of the Dopod 818 Pro (HTC Prophet) and just about every other device that Dopod, i-mate, Qtek, et al. sells.

If we were to look at the bigger picture, HTC already has a greater share of the market than Quanta.

[ScottC]

Looks to me more like HTC wanted to get their own retail setup, I can imagine they were getting tired of making devices, shipping them to imate and qtek, and then having THEM sell them for a nice profit. With Dopod in their control they cut out the middleman and make that profit themselves. HTC is in the position to turn dopod into a very nice company that can provide better support than any other vendor selling HTC devices.

[ctmagnus]

Could this mean that HTC will finally respond to user requests about creating devices with, say, more RAM, more ROM, VGA screens, and the kitchen sink?

As long as the kitchen sink doesn't have a dingy, musty-smelling potscrubber sitting next to it. ;)

[Nurhisham Hussein]

Typical Asian-family-owned-company runaround. Guess who's controls Dopod in the first place? Cher Wang, who's also chairwoman of HTC and Via. Looks more like shareholders locking in capital gains then any real change in business relationships. I don't think anything significant will change - Dopod already gets favourable treatment from HTC.

[Darius Wey]

Dopod already gets favourable treatment from HTC.

Ah, good ol' S300. ;)