HTC Chairman Wang Xuehong responds to HTC's patent fight with Apple

One is the new overlord of the global smartphone sales that exceeds Nokia, and one is the rising star of Android smart phones in recent years. Apple and HTC's “Pair to Touch” has attracted a lot of light in the industry.

On Friday, Taiwan’s new richest man, HTC founder and chairman Wang Xuehong responded to Apple’s lawsuit when he was interviewed by this reporter. He said that patent disputes between technology companies are unavoidable, because this is the infrastructure of the industry. Transnational companies in particular It is a means by which American companies often use patents as a means of suppressing their opponents or challenging their opponents.

Google's acquisition of motorcycle is good for HTC

Beijing News: Recently HTC is in a patent lawsuit against Apple. Has it considered what HTC will respond to if the lawsuit fails?

Wang Xuehong: We have full confidence in the lawsuit. HTC is the first manufacturer of smart phones, and we have accumulated a lot of patents. Especially with HTC and VIA (which is a high-tech company founded by Wang Xuehong), VIA has many very important patents. The VIA Group started with IC (integrated circuit) design, and many important patents were developed on the basis of IC.

Beijing News: Patents in the IT communications industry have always been a big problem. Nearly mainstream technology companies are involved in various patent disputes. Do you think that patent disputes will affect the development of the entire industry?

Wang Xuehong: I think technology companies, especially Chinese companies, should pay more attention to intellectual property rights. This is the basic element of innovative technology companies. Patent disputes between technology companies are unavoidable, because this is the infrastructure of the industry. Transnational corporations, especially US companies, often use patents as a means of suppressing or challenging their opponents.

Beijing News: Last week, there was a major news in the industry that Google acquired Motorola for USD 12.5 billion. As a member of the Android camp, what does HTC think?

Wang Xuehong: I think Google's most important thing is to buy Motorola's patents. After Google did not bid on Nortel Networks' patents, we hope to quickly purchase patents to defend Android's customers. HTC is the world's first manufacturer of smart phones, and has accumulated a lot of important patents, so it is more than enough to defend Android customers in the short term. Google’s acquisition of a patented company such as Motorola has made sense for HTC in the medium to long term.

Beijing News: Are you worried that after Google's purchase of Motorola, there will be unequal status among the internal members of the Android camp. After all, HTC is the first vendor to support the Android platform?

Wang Xuehong: Google's most profitable search engine, I believe it will not leave its business. HTC is not relying on Android? I don't think so. At the beginning, HTC is working with Microsoft. We have no problem with the platforms of others, but we must have our own differences. HTC's mobile phones are very different from Motorola's or Samsung's other Android brands. We have our own advantages.

In the next step, we will have a very good cooperation with Google. We can contribute a lot to it and make it better on the Android platform.

Beijing News: At present, HTC's smart machine is still more Android platform, in the future have you ever thought of using some other platform, or the acquisition of a platform company?

Wang Xuehong: We will not only focus on Android. Our approach is that the OS (Operating System) is only a basic architecture. How to show our characteristics and differentiation from the above is the most important, which requires more in-depth software. skill. We have also been working on Microsoft's system and we are still probably using Microsoft's system first.

We often have such ideas to discuss internally whether we develop or acquire platforms, but we will not have such impulses. I think the strength of HTC is to understand the OS. We can use different kinds of mobile phones to make different kinds of OS. Because we build different things on the second and third layers of the platform.

Smart machine sales are not myths are trends

Beijing News: HTC's performance growth benefited from the strong sales of smart phones. This quarterly report showed that HTC shipments increased by 192% year-on-year. Can HTC continue the myth of shipments?

Wang Xuehong: I think this is not a myth. This is a market trend. If a company pays more attention to innovation, execution, and talent, growth will be very high in the next few years when the smart phone market is just beginning to develop. Our current share of the Smart Phone in the United States is probably the same as that of Apple.

Beijing News: In April of this year, HTC's market value surpassed that of Nokia. What does this mean for HTC?

Wang Xuehong: I never read market value. Of course, someone told me that we exceeded Nokia and RIM (Blackberry handset manufacturer). I think the focus is not this, the key is how to keep the company in the new development areas, such as smart phones and tablet computers, how to stay ahead of the entire mobile Internet architecture; how to get close to consumers, understand consumers and meet consumers. These are the most important.

Beijing News: In the era of analog computers, Motorola led the country for more than a decade. In the digital era, Nokia dominated the market for more than a decade. Now that we have entered the era of smart machines, the situation of these manufacturers is in jeopardy. Will the change of kings in the era of smart machines become faster? Is HTC ready for this?

Wang Xuehong: Any decision should be reckless, and don't let the burden tie you.

Nokia's change from the Feature Phone to the Smart Phone is slightly slower. Because Feature Phone is so successful, losing these packages is not easy. Therefore, in the era of smart machines, we must first innovate. The second is to really understand the consumers. The third is to do a good job of management.

Expanding Operators' Custom Phones in China

Beijing News: Generally, Chinese manufacturers first enter the domestic market and then enter the European and American markets. Why did HTC choose to start with the most difficult European and American markets first, and then “backflow” into the Chinese market?

Wang Xuehong: HTC started with ODM (Original Design Manufacturer) and first worked with Microsoft. At that time, everyone did not know the smart phone. In 2009, we decisively cut off ODM, a big manufacturer, in order to devote ourselves to our own brand. At that time, the European and American markets had a more rigorous knowledge of smart phones and brands. The Chinese mainland market had insufficient knowledge of the brand and had more cottage machines.

We believe that brand awareness starts from Europe and the United States. The first is a challenge for ourselves. However, the Chinese market is very important to HTC. The second step is to make Chinese consumers really realize the innovation of HTC technology.

Beijing News: HTC's share of the domestic market has been dominated by parallel channels. How can HTC roll out normal sales channels in mainland China faster?

Wang Xuehong: We need to understand how to root in China's market, whether it is expanding the market or deepening the market. By the end of this year, HTC will open more than 2,000 store-in-shops and more than 70 specialty stores in the Mainland. It will also strengthen cooperation with operators and further expand operators' customization of mobile phones.

Acquisition of TVB to Combine Content and Technology

Beijing News: The company you previously acquired is still basically in the high-tech industry. What was the consideration for the acquisition of TVB (Hong Kong TV Broadcasting Co., Ltd.) earlier this year? Do you find it difficult to operate across borders?

Wang Xuehong: Indeed, interlacing is like every other mountain. But TVB is a very good company. Its operating team is very upright and the content of TVB has always been quite good. This is one of the reasons we bought it.

The power we can contribute is in the new media, because content and high technology are also combined. The meaning of new media means that the combination of smart phones and tablet computers or smart TVs, automotive computers and other terminals, consumers want to see the content anytime, anywhere, how to put the content on the product is the focus. This is the second reason for our acquisition.

Beijing News: Will there be plans to continue acquiring content companies in the future? What kind of company will tend to buy?

Wang Xuehong: Yes. Many small and medium-sized companies have a lot of innovations. To allow consumers to get the most advanced technology, the best content, and the quickest enjoyment of these products, I believe that the tentacles of our acquisition will be multifaceted.

Beijing News: Does this acquisition have the possibility of getting through with the main business? Will it form a network?

Wang Xuehong: I think part of it will open up, but it is best for professionals to do business. For example, TVB's current operating team is still basically the same.

Reporter's notes

Low-key "strong woman"

In a black professional suit, plain straight hair. When HTC founder and chairman Wang Xuehong appeared in front of the reporter, it was difficult to associate this low-key woman with the word “Taiwan’s new richest man”. When she answered the reporter's question concisely and firmly with a low voice, the arrogance of the “strong woman who called on Apple” was revealed.

While the mobile Internet is re-deconstructing the world and igniting a new era of industrial change, the outside world speculates whether HTC can continue to write myths about smartphone sales. "I think this is not a myth. It is a market trend," Wang Xuehong replied.

As the daughter of Taiwan’s “God of Operation” Wang Yongqing, Wang Xuehong’s life is doomed to be compared. This personality is persistent, straightforward, and hearty. It is called “the most like a father’s daughter.” She does not rely on her father’s aura. In the male-dominated IT industry, he already has more than 30 companies including chip design and terminal manufacturing. , personally created its own empire of science and technology industry. Wang Xuehong, 53, was also described by The New York Times as "the most powerful woman in the global technology community."

“My father had a lot of influence on me. Although he didn’t ask him for money when he started business, he is a teacher.” Wang Xuehong said that his father Wang Yongqing’s practice of “searching for the bottom” and “sustainable management” became an influence. Her business wealth is a valuable asset.