HTC is still unpredictable to increase marketing investment

Silicon Valley News Guide: foreign media today, although once in the smartphone market has a first-run advantage, but faced with increasingly fierce competition, HTC's share is gradually eroded, not only executives have to leave, marketing work is not good, share prices are miserable. However, the company's CEO, Peter Chou, remains confident about the company and sees hope in a series of recent positives.


　　


The following is the full text of the article:


　　


development met with setbacks


　　

After a series of product
and a two-year fall in share prices, Htcceo Chou knew he was finally facing an unavoidable problem.


　　


"I know you're going to ask me if I'm leaving. "There's a lot of rumors that I'm leaving, but I never said that," Chou said in an interview at HTC headquarters in the suburbs of Taipei. I'm not going to change my job. ”


　　


, 56, has recently been in a defensive position. HTC's smartphone sales in the US were second only to Apple in 2011, but since then its market capitalisation has evaporated by four-fifths.


　　


now HTC has been squeezed out of five of America's biggest smartphone brands, in the context of a failure in marketing policy, delayed delivery of products and the rise of new rivals. At the same time, a series of recent executive resignation news has raised concerns about the company's future prospects.


　　


's interviews with current and former executives reveal a challenge to struggling to maintain performance in an already overcrowded market when the smartphone industry has a first-run advantage.


　　

HTC's global smartphone market share has shrunk from 9.3% in the first quarter of 2011 to 2.5% in the first quarter of this year, according to data from Gartner, the US market research firm (
).


　　


HTC's shares in Wednesday closed at $250 trillion (about $8.38), down 80% from its April 2011 peak. The company's profit in the first quarter of this year was only NT $85 million, a steep drop of 98% per cent.


　　


Past Mistakes


　　


"HTC has made mistakes in pricing products, and they have introduced too many models to confuse consumers." But they have improved recently, streamlining the product line. "The company holds HTC shares," said Jeng-hancheng, senior director of the Taiwan Dollar's gold control.


　　


as HTC struggles, Chou, the company's core figure, is naturally hard to blame. He plans to deliver a speech at the annual shareholder meeting in Friday, which could justify the company's performance and strategy.


　　


HTC Employees often compare Mr Chou with Steve Jobs (Steve) as a dreamer, a deep understanding of good products and a deep involvement in product design. But these employees also think that Mr. Chou is a tough boss, not only in a fiery temper, but often at the last minute.


　　


, a longtime engineer at HTC, said: "We joked that product development was not completed until the packing was sealed." ”


　　


HTC Director, David Joe, a former professor at Harvard Business School, said the board meeting never raised the issue of CEO change. "The board has a lot of faith in Chou, whose share price won't determine the future of the CEO." "About to say.


　　


Chou admits that the company did make some mistakes, but pointed out that they were out of the market after solving the htcone supply chain problem and forming a new marketing management team. HTC achieved revenue of NT $29 billion in May this year, a 11-month high.


　　


"It took us a long time to study how to build a brand." "he said.


　　


Change Attitude


　　


HTC will double its marketing spending this year, but does not disclose specific figures. With new marketing executives on the stage, HTC is also taking a proactive approach, including directly commenting on rivals such as Samsung.


　　


HTC has also taken more cautious steps to avoid technical problems with the Htcone flagship mobile phone, which is widely expected. Last year, the company's products were widely criticized for overheating and screen flaws.


　　


but with the growing congestion in the smartphone industry, including the rise of low-cost Chinese manufacturers, it is becoming increasingly difficult for HTC to remain competitive.


　　


HTC was a very agile company at the beginning of its development, and in 2002 launched its first smartphone with the Microsoft operating system, and joined the Android camp in 2008. It was originally a foundry enterprise, starting in 2006 with its own brand production equipment.


　　


but employees say that as the scale grows, HTC's energy is beginning to spread and efficiency is diminishing. Chou also acknowledged these issues in an e-mail sent to employees last year. "The rapid growth of the past two years has slowed our pace," he said. We only know about meetings and empty talk, but we can't make decisions. Not only lacks strategic decision-making, but also loses the sense of urgency. ”


　　


at the same time, HTC's marketing department found it difficult to establish contact with users. Samsung has built up its image with Apple's rivalry, and has expanded its lead with a huge marketing budget.


　　


HTC is also looking for clear marketing information, and has even changed marketing executives two times in the past year. And Chou eventually was forced to look for the right person from outside the company.


　　


Several former executives said the marketing issue was a focus of debate within the company last year, with disagreements between local leaders and Western-backed executives.


　　


Chou said HTC had no regional problems and that some overseas jobs had been repatriated to Taiwan in recent months.


　　


Bearer Hope


　　


"Successful multinational brands know how to provide enough breathing space for markets to help them succeed." Gregg Fischer said he stepped down as senior vice president of global marketing at HTC this February and currently works for Amazon. "In general, Taiwanese companies are making a bad progress in building multinational brands, while Japanese and Korean companies are more successful." ”


　　


Taiwanese companies have long wanted to break through the foundry business and build their own brands, and HTC's plan not only carries its own destiny, but also carries the expectations of the island.


　　


HTC's revival ambitions suffered setbacks this spring, when parts shortages led to Htcone's failure to sell before Samsung GalaxyS4. According to a number of employees, planning too late is the main cause of this problem.


　　


"In time, when we have many experience, we can better manage and balance the new products and implement the plan." "said Chou.


　　


He also said he had been too involved in marketing, but the situation in He Yongsheng after the helm of the department has improved.


　　


Chou said the departure of other executives was "normal personnel changes" and did not indicate any problems with the company. Executives from HTC's chief product Officer Koujikodera and COO Matthew Caustello (Matthewcostello) have resigned in recent weeks, but the company has not provided detailed information.


　　


"Someone left, but a lot of people left, I don't think there is any problem." "There is no need to fuss over the resignation of several people," said Chou. ”


　　


Original title HTC turn over the foreground difficult material: increase marketing investment