History of HTC Corporation

HTC was founded in 1997 by Cher Wang and Peter Chou. Although initially the company made notebook computers, HTC decided to make a strong push toward hand-held devices instead. In 1998, they started designing some of the world's first touch and wireless handheld devices. The company has a rich heritage of many "firsts", including creating the first Microsoft-powered smartphone (2002) and the first Microsoft 3G phone (2005). Their first major product was made in 2000 and was one of the world's first touch screen smartphones. The Palm Treo 650 and the iPaq were created by HTC. They started producing 3G-capable phones in early 2005 and made the world's first Android phone in 2008, the HTC Dream (also marketed as the T-Mobile G1). It was first released in the United States for pre-order through T-Mobile USA on September 23, 2008, and became available in U.S. T-Mobile stores on October 22, 2008. The G1 was available in the UK several days after its USA launch, and has since been introduced in many countries including Australia and Singapore. In 2009, the company launched the HTC Sense interface for the platform with the HTC Hero.

In March 2010, Apple Inc. filed a complaint with the US International Trade Commission claiming infringement of 20 of its patents covering aspects of the iPhone user interface and hardware. HTC disagreed with Apple's actions and reiterated its commitment to creating innovative smart phones. HTC also filed a complaint against Apple for infringing on 5 of its patents and sought to ban Apple products imported into the US from manufacturing facilities in Asia. Apple expanded its original complaint by adding two more patents.

In June 2010, the company launched the HTC Evo 4G, the first 4G-capable phone in the United States. In July 2010, HTC announced it would begin selling smartphones in China under its own brand name in a partnership with China Mobile.

HTC also began work in 2010 with Google and N-trig in creating the gPad, a device engineered in competition with Apple Inc.'s iPad. The device is scheduled for release in the US in November, and will be based on Google's Chrome operating system and have multi-touch technology.