HTC sells factory and invests profits in virtual reality

HTC has sold a factory in the Chinese city of Shanghai and, according to a Taiwanese site, wants to put the proceeds into its division that makes the Vive VR glasses. HTC executives approved the plan to sell the factory on Wednesday.

HTC is selling the factory to the Chinese company Xingbao Information Technology, according to the smartphone maker’s report. HTC has been manufacturing smartphones at its factory in Shanghai since 2010. The factory is located in the Pudong district.

According to the website Focus Taiwan, HTC wants to put the proceeds of the sale, currently about 85 million euros, into its division that develops the VR glasses Vive. HTC has been struggling for years with declining revenues from the smartphone branch and hopes to tap into a new market with the VR glasses. The Vive came on the market last year. HTC developed the headset with Valve.

The Taiwanese smartphone maker led a loss of approximately 110 million euros in the last quarter. In an attempt to turn the tide, HTC recently released a new high-end phone in the Benelux: the U Ultra.