HTC has had a rough few years recently, but a new report says that the company is working on a new way to bring some cash in.
HTC is in talks to license its brand to Micromax, Lava, and Karbonn in the Indian market. That's according to the Economic Times, citing three "senior industry executives" who say that HTC will earn royalties in return for allowing these smartphone makers to use its name. The talks are said to be in advanced stages, and it's said that Lava and Karbonn could team up to bid for HTC's brand license.
Today's report goes on to say that HTC wants to license its brand for smartphones, tablets, and mobile accessories. Licensing HTC's name could help the other brands continue competing in the Indian market, with one source adding that because HTC used to compete in the Rs 10,000-plus segment, its brand could help Indian smartphone makers compete in this arena where Xiaomi, Samsung, Oppo, and Vivo are battling it out.
While HTC used to be one of the biggest names in mobile, the company has struggled lately when it comes to competing against the likes of Samsung, Huawei, and Xiaomi. At the end of 2018, HTC reported that it earned revenue of 23.74 billion NT$ ($770 million USD), which was down 62 percent from 2017 and was the first time that HTC grossed less than $1 billion during a year as a public company. While licensing its brand to other smartphone makers in India isn't suddenly going to make HTC the smartphone company that it was years ago, it could help to bring in some extra cash and keep its name in the mobile market.
