Horace Luke, the head of design at HTC and the man who helped create the Xbox, has quit the Taiwanese smartphone company.
Cited as one of the “real talents” at HTC, analysts in Asia are now concerned that the company has lost a major asset and the person responsible for the creative design behind a lot of the company’s products.
The Wall Street Journal said that the resignation comes as HTC battles for market share after growing quickly through its early adoption of Google Inc.’s Android operating system. But analysts say it faces increasing competition from big-name rivals such as Samsung. HTC’s growth has also brought on a string of patent suits from Apple, which is jockeying with makers of Android-based handsets.
Mr. Luke, often cited as the key person behind HTC’s success in its transition from a relatively unknown Asian contract manufacturer to a global smartphone maker, left for personal reasons, a company spokeswoman said.
“Horace nurtured a culture of innovation at HTC and instilled a strong consumer design focus among our employees, who continue to raise the bar in designing products that capture our customers’ imagination,” HTC said in a statement.
