HTC CEO Swept Out, Chairwoman Takes Over

(RTTNews) - Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC Corp.'s Co-Founder and CEO Peter Chou was replaced after nearly ten years at the helm, with Co-Founder and Chairperson Cher Wang taking over the role with immediate effect.

Meanwhile, Chou will "transition to a strategic new role leading future product innovation" as head of HTC's Future Development Lab. Chou will be instrumental in identifying future growth opportunities for HTC.

"We are seeing rapid changes in the industry, with the smartphone as our personal hub connecting us to a growing world of smart devices. We pioneered the smartphone industry; now we are applying that thinking to realize the potential of a new generation of connected products and services," Wang said in a statement.

Chou has led HTC since 2005. However, he handed Wang more of his CEO responsibilities to Wang in 2013 in what was said to be a temporary move in order to focus more on product development.

However, HTC has now seen three years of declining sales. Wang has been sharing operational decision making with Chou for the past 18 months, and thus has to accept a share of the blame for HTC's failures.

Chou had founded HTC with Wang in 1997. He was earlier a senior engineer at Digital Equipment Corp. in 1997, when HP merged with DEC.

"The overwhelming response that our virtual reality product, HTC Vive, received earlier this month underlines the importance of these new connected technologies for our future. As an entrepreneur at heart, I am excited to see so many new opportunities, and I am honoured to accept this opportunity to help shape the next stage of HTC's development," Wang added.