Slashdot Mirror
Google Buys Part of HTC's Smartphone Team For $1.1 Billion (betanews.com)
BrianFagioli shares a report from BetaNews: Today, a deal finally happens, but Google didn't buy HTC outright. Strangely, as the deal is laid out, the search giant has seemingly bought HTC employees. Yes, for $1.1 billion, the search giant has sort of purchased human beings -- plus it gets access to some intellectual property. HTC gets a much-needed big influx of cash. "Google and HTC Corporation today announced a definitive agreement under which certain HTC employees -- many of whom are already working with Google to develop Pixel smartphones -- will join Google. HTC will receive $1.1 billion in cash from Google as part of the transaction. Separately, Google will receive a non-exclusive license for HTC intellectual property (IP). The agreement is a testament to the decade-long strategic relationship between HTC and Google around the development of premium smartphones," says HTC.
They've sold about 3+ million of those pixel phones I read, so we're looking at $300 per handset sold.
IMHO, the issue with Google is they're playing catchup with their own Android OEMs and that has a lot to do with Pichai. I once watched him do a presentation on ChromeOS and he didn't have a vision, he was just sort of wishy washy on the direction, saying stuff like "well maybe extend this, and change that". Since then, Google has twiddled with technology adding features its OEMs already added.
My current beef with him is that Android is still total crap on the tablets, the bad reviews of the Pixel C's software from 3 years ago, are still valid today, years later, and he's led Google to make a poor mans Windows laptop clone, merging Chrome OS and Android, as if anyone with an Android product wanted a whole layer of crap around the outside of Android and a trackpad and mouse interface.
I see rumours of a 2 in 1, what's actually needed is an Android leader making a proper tablet. Fuck chromeOS, fuck the WIMP system on a tablet nonsense. Clueless.
So they've bought the Pixel team of HTC, yet Samsung sell more refurbished exploding Note7's than they sell Pixel phones. In their heads they're a success, in reality, they clearly are passengers on Samsung's train.
Seriously, what the actual fuck are you talking about?
Have you ever worked with a Taiwanese company? I am guess not. I have worked with several over the year. And yes, even HTC. From both US (California) and Europe.
They are extremely demanding and extremely "into the details".
In fact, at one point our mother company brought in one guy to act as our COO from one of our Taiwan locations with the idea that the team in CA should adapt towards the Taiwanese working style. The end result was 30% of the employees quit due to the ridiculous expectations which were being placed on them.
The larger companies in Taiwan have zero work/life balance relative to the US and European companies.
To say that Taiwan's culture is "Meh" as you put it, is ignorant at best and willfully racist at worst. I will give you the benefit of the doubt and assume you are just some ignorant fuck ball who never left their mom's basement and not a casually racist prick.
It sounds like a legal way and face saving way for Google to prop up HTC. I can imagine the backlash is Google just gave HTC the billion. It wouls likely be unfortunate for Google if Samsung was the only major supplier of Android phones.
"She's a scientist and a lesbian. She's not going to let it slide." Orphan Black
Get off your high horse man!
This is not about master buying slaves
This is about Google buying up the part of HTC which design first class smartphone and not getting other part of HTC which is a bureaucratic hell
You guys who never work in HTC never know how bureaucratic HTC is