HTC cuts jobs to focus on products like blockchain smartphones

Taiwanese electronics manufacturer HTC has confirmed its plan to further downsize the company.

This will be the third major lay-off round that the company has seen, Taiwanese news outlet Liberty Times reported, following a cut of 2,250 employees in 2015 and another 1,500 in July 2018.

Additionally, in Jan 2018, HTC lost around 2,000 of its engineers to Google in a $1.1 billion deal. At its peak in 2013, HTC boasted around 19,000 employees, which marks a sharp contrast to its current headcount of 3,000 people. 

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HTC claims that its latest workforce adjustment will allow the company to focus on innovation efforts targeting selected products, including its blockchain-backed EXODUS smartphones. 

Launched in May 2018 at an initial retail price of 0.15 BTC, EXODUS allows users to access decentralized exchanges on their device and secure their assets with a hardware wallet. 

This October, HTC rolled out Exodus 1, a cheaper version of its previous product with the capacity to run a full bitcoin node. The following month, the company announced its plan to release a limited edition version of its EXODUS 1 phones which will integrate Binance Chain with the device’s native wallet app. 

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Yilun joined The Block in November 2019. She has a policy background and extensive experience in reporting and writing. She has worked on stories ranging from business to politics.