Google is reportedly planning to “either become a strategic partner, or outright buy the entire smartphone unit”, Phonearena.com reported, citing Commercial Times.
Google is reportedly considering acquiring the struggling Taiwanese smartphone maker 
HTC’s phone business, media reported. According to a report in the Chinese publication Commercial Times, Google is considering two options to seal the deal with HTC, a company that is reportedly building Google’s Pixel 2 line of smartphones.
HTC, now in bad financial health, was once very popular in the US but has not done well for quite some time even after launching flagship devices.
However, HTC’s virtual reality business (HTC Vive) would not be part of the deal. The news led to HTC posting its lowest revenue in over a decade on Thursday.
If the deal materializes, it would be second such acquisition after Google’s $12.5 billion buyout of Motorola in 2012. The search giant later sold it off to Lenovo for $2.91 billion in 2014.
The Google Pixel and Pixel XL devices were also manufactured by HTC. Both Google and HTC have declined to comment on the report.
