Skip to main content

HTC to cut a quarter of jobs after huge plunge in 2018 sales

Massive HTC layoffs spurred by 'realignment of resources'

htc u12 plus face down
Julian Chokkattu/Digital Trends

Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer HTC is set to cut a massive 1,500 jobs from its manufacturing units in Taiwan, following an enormous drop in sales for the company.

Recommended Videos

The job losses would amount to almost a quarter of HTC’s 6,450-strong workforce currently employed, and comes after Google bought a select team of 2,000 engineers from HTC for a staggering $1.1 billion back in January. Despite the large cash injection into the company, it seems that HTC’s losses simply still aren’t sustainable, and HTC reported a decline of 46.7 percent in March sales, and a 55.5 percent drop in sales for April 2018, compared year-on-year.

We contacted HTC to confirm this news, and an HTC spokesperson confirmed the following: “Today’s reduction in manufacturing workforce announced by HTC is a decisive step in the realignment of resources across the organization, and will allow more flexible operations management. The Company will offer full assistance to those employees affected by the plan, which will be completed by the end of September. HTC continues to review its operations to ensure production resources align with key strategic initiatives, so that the Company can more effectively compete in its target markets while maintaining its innovative edge.”

This unfortunate news doesn’t exist in a financial vacuum either. It was recently rumored that Sony Mobile would be pulling out of specific regions in order to focus on core markets, while LG — another previously ascendant smartphone creator — announced in February that it would be pulling out of the Chinese market. In the wider market, the mobile industry is becoming an exceptionally difficult place to make it as a mobile brand. The IDC’s report on the first quarter of 2018 showed that the top three manufacturers — Samsung, Apple, and Huawei — comprised over 50 percent of the entire market. Even worse, each of those companies has it’s own very specific niche within that market, making it tough for any other company to exist in the same space. For someone like HTC, which once sold one in every 10 smartphones sold globally, this must be an exceptionally bitter pill to swallow.

As if that wasn’t enough, it’s also become clear that the global smartphone market is starting to plateau, with further growth only really now possible in areas that haven’t previously bought as many smartphones. With smartphone saturation pretty much reached in the west, smaller manufacturers are having to convince phone owners to abandon their existing brand and move to a new one — something neatly encapsulated by LG’s recent advertising campaign.

Updated on July 2: We’ve added HTC’s official comment to our story.

Mark Jansen
Mobile Evergreen Editor
Mark Jansen is an avid follower of everything that beeps, bloops, or makes pretty lights. He has a degree in Ancient &…
iOS 18.5 arrives as Apple edges closer to big iOS 19 reveal
The iOS 18.5 update waiting on an iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Apple has released iOS 18.5 and iPadOS 18.5, the latest software updates for its iPhone and iPad models. As the version numbers suggest, Apple is gradually getting closer to the announcement of iOS 19, which will almost certainly be one of the main topics during its Worldwide Developer Conference (WWDC) keynote which takes place on June 9. In the meantime, here’s what you need to know about iOS and iPadOS 18.5.

Apple iPhone and iPad owners can check their devices for the update now by opening the Settings app, tapping General, and then Software Update. If iOS 18.5 or iPadOS 18.5 is available, it’ll show up here and you only need to follow the instructions to install it. What will you find once it’s all up and running?This isn’t a big software update, so don’t expect to spot any major alterations. Likely the most obvious will be a new wallpaper in Apple’s 2025 Pride collection, which follows the recent release of a special Pride 2025-themed Sport Band for the Apple Watch. If you’re a parent and your child has an iPhone, you’ll receive a notification when the Screen Time passcode is used, provided both devices have iOS 18.5 installed. 

Read more
Get a first look at Google Messages’ new mentions function
The Google Messages app on the Galaxy S25 Ultra.

Google Messages should soon be getting a welcome upgrade: the ability to mention other users in group chats and ping them. Similar to the @mention format popularized by Twitter and now found in other messaging programs like WhatsApp or Telegram, the feature is a quick and easy way to draw the attention of a particular person in what could be a busy group chat.

A first look at this new mention feature has been shared by Android Authority, which dug through the latest beta version of Google Messages, v20250511, to enable mentions and test out the new function. It works much as it does in other messaging programs -- you enter a "@" symbol followed by the name of the person you want to mention, and an autocomplete will show you options of members in a current group chat to make typing easier and faster.

Read more
Nothing and Kef are making premium audio products together
A promotional image for the Nothing and Kef partnership.

Technology brand Nothing has announced a partnership with audio experts Kef, and said it’s already hard at work on co-developed products together. Nothing is best known for its smartphones these days, but its first ever product was the Nothing Ear 1 earbuds, and it has continued  to build and diversify the line ever since. 

Nothing Ear 2

Read more