HTC senior execs on mass exodus mode, albeit one at a time

The Taiwanese smartphone-maker is struggling to stem the outflow of its top management, even as the sales of its HTC One X is picking up

News | by CIOL Bureau

BANGALORE, INDIA: The launch of HTC One X seems to have signalled exit to many senior executives of the Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer, so to speak, though not as a direct consequence.

Let's clear the air confirming that the latest flagship model from HTC, One X, has picked up sales volumes, despite having had a sluggish start and is not the bone of contention for the leadership team exploring greener pastures.

Now, to the exodus part. It all, apparently, started with senior vice-president of Global Marketing, Greg Fisher, leaving the company to Amazon a few months ago. Now, it is being reported that several other senior executives from the product and marketing departments of the company.

The Verge reported on Tuesday that HTC's chief product officer, Kouji Kodera, had left the company as of last week, "which is a considerable staff shift given that Kodera probably spearheaded HTC's recent line of critically well-received devices, including the HTC One X and this year's HTC One."

Apparently, the company is facing a lot of internal turmoil and politics, which is frustrating employees across the board.

Over the past three months, Global Communications vice-president Jason Gordon, Global Retail Marketing manager Rebecca Rowland, Digital Marketing chief John Starkweather and Eric Lin, manager of Product Strategy have quit HTC.

On Wednesay, HTC Asia CEO Lennard Hoornik confirmed exiting the company, and Elizabeth Griffin, head of Global Digital Service for the smartphone maker also reportedly might switch to Nintendo, said TechCrunch.

"This sizeable outpouring of talent comes at a crucial juncture for HTC, as it has just launched the HTC One, a flagship that CEO Peter Chou has literally staked his job upon. Chou so far seems to be secure in his position at the company, but if this trend of executive departures, he could soon wind up on his own at the top. Chou is apparently not the man people would like to have in charge, however, as The Verge reports that he and his tendency to make snap decisions are behind this outbound tide of senior staff," it added.