HTC appoints Cher Wang as New CEO

Cher Wang the previous chairwoman and co-founder of HTC, has taken over from Peter Chou as the CEO of HTC Corp. effective immediately.

Cher Wang the chairwoman of HTC has taken over the position of Peter Chou as the CEO. HTC Corp is a Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer and the move came after HTC faced three constant years of low sales of its smartphones.

Wang the 56 years old new Chief Executive Officer said that she is the best candidate for the job because she is familiar with the company, its people and the vision HTC stands for. Cher Wang declared she is an entrepreneur at heart and is glad for the opportunity to be able to shape the future of HTC.

Cher Wang was previously the Chairwoman and co-founder of HTC and was nominated the CEO effectively immediately. In the public statement released by HTC, the company proclaimed the industry is rapidly changing and although HTC pioneered the smartphone industry, the company is thinking of expanding their innovation so a new generation of potential success can be achieved.

The previous 58 years old CEO Peter Chou reigned over HTC Corp. as in era when it became the best-selling US smartphone, fought a patent dispute with the rival Apple and even purchased Beats Electronics. However recently the era of Chou’s success was rapidly declining as the HTC stock were on a downward spiral and faced fierce competition from cheaper android models such as Xiaomi and Samsung. 

Jeff Pu, a stock analyst, told Bloomberg that Chou has performed poorly as a CEO and Wang will require a lot of effort to take HTC back to its former glory. The appointment of Wang from Chairwoman to CEO also implies it was harder for HTC to find a new and foreign supervisor.

The recent appointment of Wang as the new CEO did not see any rise in the stock market as the shares remained unchanged from the 0.4 percent decline seen in the start of 2015. In 2011 HTC even out staged Apple as the highest seller of smartphones in the US but since then its stock has fallen by 85 % and testified its first yearly loss in 2013. 

“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. 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,” said Cher Wang, Chairman and CEO, HTC.

“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.”

Peter Chou will be assigned a new role as the head of the HTC Future development division lab. Peter Chou had been a part of HTC since it was founded 18 years ago and became the president of HTC in 2004. Chou’s reign ultimately came to an end after seven senior executives quit HTC under his management.