HTC has come out and strongly rejected the possibility of an acquisition by Asus.
Rumours have been flying since Friday, when Asus chairman Jonney Shih refused to rule out a deal for struggling fellow Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer HTC.
Asus soon clarified that there had been no formal bid submitted, but naturally that was not enough to put an end to the matter. This has prompted HTC itself to come out and comment on the rumours.
“We strongly deny the news,” reads a statement on HTC’s website. “We didn’t contact Asusteck and will not consider the acquisition. As an international brand, HTC will continue to design world-class innovative smart devices through its pursuit of brilliance brand promise.”
That’s about as strongly worded a rebuttal as you can get without adding a spit on the end.
Of course, there will continue to be rumours of an HTC takeover while the company continues to flounder in the smartphone business.
The company has underperformed for several years now in the face of heavy competition from cash-rich Samsung and a host of emerging Chinese manufacturers.
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It hasn’t helped that the HTC One M9 has been universally panned for its inherent similarity to the HTC One M8, as well as for its underwhelming camera and overheating processor.
This prompted former CEO Peter Chou to step down from his position at the end of March. Chairwoman and co-founder Cher Wang has been in charge ever since. The question is, how long will she be presiding over an independent HTC?
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Editorial independence
Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
