HTC, which recently acquired London-based mobile platform firmSaffron Digital, is nowplanningto invest a stake in the U.S.-based gaming company Onlive Inc. This is the Taiwanese company’s latest push to expand through acquisitions and gain a better position in the ever-competitive smartphone market.
HTC has seen tremendoussuccesswith its early adoption of the Android operating system in its mobile phones. It is now aiming to ramp up its investments in mobile technology to bring exclusive content and applications, in a bid to keep up with rival Apple, Inc. This new ecosystem of content, combined with powerful hardware and the unrelenting Android OS might just make HTC a worthy contender.
The company’s $40 million stake investment inOnLivewill strengthen its gaming capabilities and help HTC tap into increasing demand for games on smartphones, according to HTC spokesperson Maggie Cheng. The company also bought Saffron Digital for $48 million with hopes of delivering a compelling multimedia video experience on its devices,saidShashi Fernando, Saffron’s chief executive.
HTC has been making remarkable smartphones with a unique user interface but it still lags behind Apple in terms of apps and content. These acquisitions by HTC will allow it to bring complex, localized content optimized for its devices to even up the ground against its rival. With suchaggressiveefforts, the Taiwanese company may be on its way to becoming one of the top-tier phone manufacturers in the world.
Story byFrancis Tan
Francis Tan is the Asia editor of TNW, who is based in the Philippines. He is particularly interested in Asian Internet startups, social me(show all)Francis Tanis the Asia editor of TNW, who is based in the Philippines. He is particularly interested in Asian Internet startups, social media and e-commerce. Get in touch with him via Twitter@francistanor Emailfrancis@thenextweb.com.
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