HTC shares plummet as staff arrested
TAIWANESE smartphone manufacturer HTC saw its shares tumble yesterday on the news that senior executives have been arrested leaking commercial secrets.
Shares of the Taipai-listed company fell five per cent in trading as police confirmed four design directors were arrested on Friday.
Prosecutors in Taiwan said yesterday that Thomas Chien, HTC vice president of product design, Wu Chien-Hung, HTC research and development director, and senior manager of design and innovation Justin Huang were among those arrested.
In 2011 HTC’s market value surpassed that of Nokia, making it the third largest smartphone maker behind Apple and Samsung.
HTC suffered a management exodus earlier this year as the company’s profits slumped and their marketshare collapsed, the exodus culminated in the departure of chief executive Matthew Costello in June.
Share prices in the phone maker have collapsed in recent years closing yesterday at T$147 a share, a fall of 88 per cent from their high of T$1300 a share in 2011.