HTC has sold its remaining stake in American company audio Beats for $ 265 million after the relationship took a turn for the worse.
The Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer has sold his remaining stake 24.84 percent beats for $ 265 million (£165 million) with a pre-tax profit of $ 85 million (£53 million).
Two years ago, HTC has a 51 percent stake in beats, an audio company founded by rapper Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine, music producer for $ 300 m (£ 187 m).
However, Split flaps and HTC has been on the cards for a while now, since HTC sold half of it majority last year for $ 150 million.
Sources close HTC said that the partnership between the two companies had soured, causing HTC sell the first half for a loss.
Despite the success of One critically acclaimed HTC, the Taiwanese smartphone maker has struggled to compete with rivals Samsung and Apple, with its market share, dropping to 2.8 percent this year.
"For HTC puts more money in the Bank, and they need cash, now that they have turned the negative operating cash flow, said Jean-Louis Lafayeedney, an analyst with JI Asia in Hong Kong."Investors have asked HTC shed assets and return cash to help them regain profitability ".
Analysts have also questioned Beats HTC and partnership, stating that the Beats audio technology was not seen as a strong selling point for mobile phones.
"People don't buy Smartphones because the headphones," said Barclays analyst tech Dale Gai before the deal was announced. «Synergy» was very small.
HTC recently launched a new advertising campaign fronted by actor Robert Downey Jr. in a bid to turnaround profit losses and Boost sales of smartphones.
The stake sale will mean that beats HTC has made $ 415 million in the two years since its initial investment.
Next, read our tricks and HTC One.
