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HTC boss Peter Chou has penned a stirring message to his employees, in which he promises the ailing company is “coming back”, and urges workers to “kill bureaucracy” in order to win the smart phone battle.
Chou clearly isn’t happy with the direction of the company, which has seen competition from the likes of Samsung put a serious dent in its fortunes. The company-wide email, obtained by Bloomberg, says, “We have people meeting and talking all the time but without decision, strategic direction or sense of urgency.”
The HTC head honcho also took time to make a swipe at its Android rivals, which have knocked the once-favourite firm off its perch. “Our competitors can leverage their scale, brand awareness and big marketing budget to do things which HTC could not do,” Chou said.
The email goes on to cite the favourable reception of the HTC One X as a sign that the company “has the best products”. While a decent mobile by all accounts, we noted that the One X is let down by questionable battery life and screen flex issues.
“Don’t let the processes, rules and norms impact our important goals,” Chou states, a metaphorical cape billowing in the wind.
“Of course we have to follow certain rules and criteria,” Chou notes, cape dipping slightly, “but don’t let small things kill the major goals.”
The email, which is titled ‘We are coming back’ notes, “Please make sure we kill bureaucracy,” adding, “Stay firm with the hero innovations and make them even bigger and deliver them.”
Not the most practical advice, but stirring stuff nonetheless.
So where is HTC going wrong? The slim and light One X and its smaller brethren mark the first time in a while that we’ve seen HTC mix things up design-wise. While the Taiwanese company was busy churning out heavy, industrial-styled mobiles such as the Desire HD, Samsung stole the limelight with super-slim, super-light gadgets like the Galaxy S2.
It’s too early to say whether a change of look has helped it much, but gimmicks like Beats audio tech and OnLive gaming certainly haven’t helped.
Unlike Samsung, HTC is refusing to make cheap phones, saying it doesn’t want to “destroy our brand image” by churning out budget mobiles. That may be, but HTC could be turning down a potential money maker by only building mid- and high-end mobiles.
What do you think HTC needs to do to succeed? Plan your strategy in the comments or on our Facebook wall.
