A recent rumor circulating on the Chinese Internet has been debunked by HTC.
HTC was rumored to be planning to sell its factory in Shanghai to a Chinese mainland company; however, HTC denied it.
A representative from the Taiwanese smartphone maker said that HTC will not sell its company, including any production plants. At present, HTC only has two plants in Shanghai and Taiwan, respectively. The company's production will be severely affected if it was selling either of the two plants.
To respond to the market demands, HTC invested CNY1.05 billion in expanding its Shanghai plant in 2009. By 2011, the monthly maximum production capacity of this plant reached two million mobile phones. However, with the rise of Chinese mainland phone brands, HTC's global sales declined and the production of its Shanghai plant was reduced, and the products were mainly sold to the mainland market.
Due to the shipment decreases, HTC was rumored to sell its factories in Shanghai and Taiwan's Taoyuan two years ago.
In addition, the company may implement a second batch of employee layoffs before the end of 2015. HTC announced plans to cut at least 35% of its operational expenses through measures like laying off 15% of its employees worldwide.