Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer HTC is being rocked by another high-level departure, as its vice president of industrial design and lead designer of its upcoming M9 model Jonah Becker has decided to call quits on the company. This comes after its previous chief designer Scott Croyle had left HTC in April last year, making it the second change at this level in less than an year.
Becker announced his departure from the company on his Twitter account, also hinting at the fact that he may follow this up with another project. He and Croyle had been longstanding employees of One & Co, a design studio which was purchased by HTC in 2008.
HTC confirmed the departure in a press release and thanked Becker for his work during his six-year tenure with the company, suggesting that him and the company parted ways in a calm manner. The Taiwanese giant announced that Becker’s position will be occupied by Daniel Hundt.
Becker’s departure is similar to Croyle’s one last April, who left the company immediately after the release of the HTC One M8. Now, the former One & Co exec is leaving the company on the eve of its release of the One M9, which garnered some criticism for being too similar to previous models.
This confirms a tumultuous period at the highest level of the Taiwanese company, as merely a week has passed since it announced that co-founder Cher Wang will replace Peter Chou in the CEO position, with Chou stated to take a higher role in the development of new projects.
HTC is trying to revitalize itself in the smartphone and gadget market, as its 2011 glory days of sharing the largest part of the American smartphone market are long gone. The Taiwanese giant has fallen way behind main competitors Apple and Google, even though it did manage to stabilize income in the last couple of financial quarters.
HTC are trying to further the scope of the company beyond the smartphone market and into the evolving gadget business, as recent announcements include a point and shoot camera, an e-wristband for fitness enthusiasts and a virtual reality headset co-developed with Valve.
Image Source: Android Authority