TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) – Taiwan’s stock exchange has removed smartphone maker HTC from its index of blue chip companies, signposting the dramatic decline of a business that once ranked as Taiwan’s No. 1 brand and dazzled consumers with some of the world’s first Android handsets.
The exchange removed HTC from its FTSE TWSE Taiwan 50 index on Monday after the company’s market value declined below the level required for inclusion in the market benchmark. The index lists Taiwan’s 50 biggest companies which together represent 70 percent of the market’s value.
It’s a humbling comedown for a company that once sold more than 1 in 10 of phones worldwide, received plaudits for innovation and represented Taiwan’s ambitions to spawn its own globally recognized electronics brands.
In the past several years, HTC has struggled because of marketing and supply chain glitches as well as intense competition from Apple, Samsung Electronics and Chinese makers such as Xiaomi. Last month, it announced a 15 percent cut in its staff of about 15,700 after a second-quarter loss of $247 million.
“They made a lot of missteps, but they were also caught in the crosshairs of a shift to commoditization of the market,” said John Brebeck, senior Taipei adviser with Hong Kong investment consultancy Peace Field.