There might be trouble looming in HTC’s future

The HTC U11 is the company's latest attempt at winning over the public

It looks like HTC is in enough trouble to want to consider strategic options. At least that’s what a new report from Bloomberg suggests. The Taiwanese company is supposedly looking at its strategic options, which, in business speak, is they’re looking to put the company up for sale because of financial issues. The options HTC is supposedly looking into is spinning off its VR arm or selling off the company itself. According to people familiar with the matter, HTC has supposedly held talks with companies including Alphabet Inc.’s Google.

Considered one of the pioneers of Android smartphones, HTC has been struggling in the current mobile market as Samsung and Apple dominate the premium market and its Chinese competitors like OnePlus and Xiaomi introducing budget-friendly yet spec-heavy smartphones. It also doesn’t seem to be doing so hot in the virtual reality space. The Vive VR system recently got a US$200 price cut to help improve sales. IDC estimates HTC has sold around 190,000 units in the first quarter of the year, putting it in third behind Samsung (489,000) and Sony (429,000 units) in the same period. Whether this deal pushes through, we can’t say yet. HTC and Google have declined to comment on this report.