HTC announced that it had agreed a deal north of $1.1 billion in cash with Google in exchange for some of HTC's intellectual property as well as some of its employees.
This means that certain HTC employees, many of which are currently workinf with Google to develop the Pixel phones, will join Google.
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Also, Google will receive a non exclusive licence for HTC's intellectual property, which will give Google access to HTC's manufacturing patents and designs for its future Pixel devices.
HTC has been a longtime partner of Google and has created some of the most beautiful, premium devices on the market. We’re excited and can’t wait to welcome members of the HTC team who will be joining Google to fuel further innovation and future product development in consumer hardware. - Rick Osterlog, Senior VP of Hardware at Google
The transaction will help HTC to excel with its upcoming flagship smartphone (which is already being worked on), and HTC will continue to expand its VIVE VR platform as well as invest in IoT, AR, and AI.
In turn, this shows Google’s commitment to the future of the Pixel lineup, and the deal will help to strengthen and streamline the Google Pixel portfolio. The transaction also introduces Google to a new technology hub in HTC’s home country of Taiwan.
The transaction is still waiting to be approved by regulatory officials as per usual, and is expected to complete in early 2018.
This is a huge step for Google in solidifying its foundation of building its own hardware and a firm first step into 2018 for HTC.
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