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HTC to Sell Off VR Business?

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HTC is going through a spot of financial trouble, Bloomberg reports-- and to solve such woes the company considers either selling or spinning off its Vive virtual reality business.

HTC ViveAccording to anonymous sources HTC is working with an adviser as it weighs between "bringing in a strategic investor, selling its Vive virtual reality headset business or spinning off the unit." Apparently a number of companies are interested, including Google, but HTC will probably not be sold in full since "it isn’t an obvious fit for a single acquirer."

HTC has been refocusing from smartphones to high-end VR, but while IDC reports Q1 2017 Vive headset shipments total over 190000, these are still not enough. In fact, the company has recently slashed headset prices by $200 in an effort to expand both sales and user base, two factors it believes are more important than earnings.

In the meantime the company is also trying to make a smartphone comeback with the U11 flagship while it manufactures the 2016 Google Pixel smartphone.

“It’s a cutthroat Android smartphone market out there,” IDC tells Bloomberg. “Apple and Samsung have made it hard for HTC to stay at the top of the market, and Chinese phone makers have made it hard for HTC to dominate the middle and low end of the market."

Go Smartphone Maker HTC Explores Strategic Options (Bloomberg)