HTC To Quit India As Sales Slump In The Face Of Chinese Competition

After having halted local manufacturing almost an year ago, HTC will now be quitting the Indian phone market, Economic Times has reported.

The company’s top management in India has also quit reportedly while most of the remaining 70-80 member team has been asked to leave, with the company withdrawing from its all its distribution contracts.

The company however, will continue to be in the virtual reality device segment which will be managed directly from Taiwan, the company’s home turf.

“It plans to sell virtual reality devices online with Taiwan completely controlling Indian operation. This will be like an extremely small business,” a company executive is quoted in the report.

The company says that it may enter the country again, as an online exclusive brand, after improving sales in other markets. However, even global sales are falling with 68 per cent year-on-year decline in June. The company recently had to let go of 1,500 of its employees comprising a fifth of the total workforce.

Several of the company’s distributors however are planning to legal action against the company over unpaid dues and for not compensating for the stock in pipeline. HTC has said that it is cognisant of the potential dispute and will wait for further details to emerge before commenting.