HTC to close Korean office on slow sales

Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC said Monday it will close its Korean office soon. The Taiwanese company said it will continue to provide after-sales services for its products.

The closure announcement takes place months after the head of its Korean office stepped down in May.

With the company’s share narrowing in the Korean market, which is dominated by Samsung and Apple smartphones, it was unable to release a new lineup of smartphones this year.

“Our after-sales service policy in Korea will not alter, even with our restructuring plan,” said an HTC official.

Although HTC is currently a small competitor in the local market, it was once the top-selling maker of smartphones running on Google’s Android mobile operating system. Samsung, which is now the world’s No. 1 smartphone manufacturer, took over the spot, giving less ground for the Taiwan-based handset maker.

“The close of the Korean office was an inevitable decision because it directly impacted those who contributed to the development of the firm for over many years,” an HTC official said. “It was done to add innovation to the organization.”

However, the company did not unveil the exact scale of its restructuring.

In a related move, HTC also recently closed down its research and development center in North Carolina and its Brazilian office.

By Cho Ji-hyun (sharon@heraldcorp.com)