Yesterday, Reuters reported that HTC has stopped “at least one” of its smartphone production lines in Taiwan, out of the four it has in the country. The production line shutdown was said to account for at least a fifth of the total manufacturing capacity. According to the report, HTC would begin outsourcing production so as to reduce the pressure on its cash flow as it struggles to move more units of its devices in the market. The company today issued a formal denial. In a statement, a company spokesperson said that HTC is not shutting down and has no plans of shutting down its factory assets.
The report about the shutdown mentioned a reporter who had travelled to an HTC factory at the company’s former headquarters in Taoyuan. The reporter apparently saw loading docks shuttered as well as a sign on the lobby door which read “Lobby is temporarily closed for use. Thank you for your cooperation.” So going by this account, it may seem that production at the facility may have halted. When asked about that one facility in particular, HTC CMO Ben Ho didn’t give any major details, but said that like other manufacturers HTC does “volume planning” to optimize its lines, production and manufacturing facilities. Despite the fact that HTC’s recent products have been very well received, HTC One is a prime example, the company continues to struggle in the competitive market. Just this month, HTC posted its first quarterly loss, but its chairwoman Cher Wang doesn’t think that the financial situation is the company’s biggest challenge in the coming quarter. She dubbed marketing as the biggest challenge that the company will have to take head on in the near future.
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