HTC confirms reports it hired former Samsung marketing exec
CNA
2014-04-19
GMT+8)
HTC One smartphones. (File photo/China Times)
Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer HTC confirmed a report Friday that it has hired a marketing executive who previously worked for the company's South Korean rival Samsung to advise HTC chairperson Cher Wang.
The executive, Paul Golden, was chief marketing officer for Samsung's US mobile phone business and helped create and launch the company's highly successful Galaxy brand before leaving in 2012, according to Golden's LinkedIn page.
HTC confirmed the report by Bloomberg News without providing any details.
In an email to reporters, HTC said only that the company "continues to invest in talent and recruitment as part of our broader human resources strategy to ensure the continued strength of our company's organizational structure."
"To achieve our long-term goals as a business and return maximum value to our shareholders, these are necessary steps to drive ongoing innovation, [and] ensure our ability to forge [a] strong foundation that [will] solidify our future," the company said.
Quoting two people familiar with the matter, the Bloomberg report said Golden has been recruited as a contractor within the past few weeks and reports directly to Wang.
HTC has posted operating losses and declines in sales and market share in the past three quarters, but is hopeful that its new mid-level Desire series and new flagship HTC One M8 smartphone will improve its fortunes.
