Three members
of staff of the Taiwanese smartphone maker have been accused of selling design
interface of an HTC smartphone that is yet to appear on the market.
Taiwanese investigators
searched their office and homes on Friday for evidence of the crime according
to reports from Taipei-based China Times newspaper.
It was
claimed that the technology sold to the unidentified Chinese firm is the
technology to be used in HTC’s new Sense 6.0 smartphones which will be unveiled
later this year.
Although they
have not been arrested, the men suspected are HTC’s chief industrial designer,
a division chief and a designer.
“The matter
is under investigation by relevant authorities. We therefore retain from
further comments,” HTC said in a statement.
HTC has been
struggling in recent times against the high competition in the smartphone
market. Despite its production of smartphones like Nexus One for Google and the
launch of its popular HTC One smartphone among other devices, HTC witnessed an
83% drop in its net profit in the second quarter compared to the last year.
According to
the IDC, HTC has seen its 8.8% share in the smartphone market in the second
quarter of 2012 fall to 4.6% in 2013.
This case
could see the employees involved bag up to 10 years in jail if they are found
guilty.
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HTC employees suspected of selling trade secrets to Chinese firms