HTC halts trade of its shares amid rumours of takeover by Google

Taiwanese smartphone and virtual reality (VR) gear maker HTC will stop trade of its shares from Thursday amid rumours of a takeover by Google's parent firm Alphabet.

"TWSE announced trading in the shares of HTC Corporation and the securities underlying the company will be halted starting from 21 September 2017 pending the release of material information. The company will apply for resumption of trading after the release of material information," Taiwan Stock Exchange said in a statement.

According to various media reports, the "release of material information" could be in anticipation of its acquisition by Alphabet. There has been no confirmation of the deal from either Google or HTC yet.

The Taiwan-based company currently produces Google's flagship smartphone Pixel, and is presently working on Pixel 2.

Google had earlier acquired mobile phone brand Motorola in 2011 before it was finally sold to China's Lenovo. This time though, Google's parent company, Alphabet, could be exploring similar options to either become 'a strategic partner' or buy HTC's entire smartphone unit.

HTC's finances have slid in recent times, with the company posting low revenue despite launching flagship devices. The deal could make sense for Google as it aims to " perfect [the] integration of software, content, hardware, network, cloud, [and] AI", a report in the Commercial Times had said.

However, it remains to be seen if Google wants to repeat the acquisition of a smartphone maker following its not so great experience with Motorola. Google had acquired Motorola in 2012 for $12.5 bn in 2012 and sold it to Lenovo for for $2.91 billion in 2014.

Earlier this year, HTC launched premium segment smartphone HTC U11 at Rs 51,990 in India.