Google has finally completed its acquisition of HTC’s smartphone division – a US$1.1 billion deal which will see the transfer of nearly 2,000 R&D engineers to the American tech giant.
As part of the agreement, Google will also receive a non-exclusive license of HTC’s intellectual properties.
Google’s acquisition of HTC’s smartphone division was first announced in September last year.
Following the sale, HTC will continue to operate its virtual reality operations independently, and is likely to launch more HTC-branded smartphones. The new team will reportedly commence work on the Pixel 3.
As some individuals may recall, the development of Google’s two Pixel smartphones was reportedly outsourced to HTC.
In a blog post, Rick Osterloh, Google’s Senior VP of Hardware affirmed the tech giant is “delighted” to welcome an “incredibly talented team”:
“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″.
Google will soon gain a large new facility in Taipei, Taiwan – its biggest HQ in South East Asia – thereby establishing a significant position in the region.
