HTC beefs up software portfolio with Abaxia

Taiwanese phone maker HTC has splashed out $13.2 million for Paris based mobile software company Abaxia which specializes in portals, search apps and idle screen usage.
Abaxia, which has worked with HTC in the past, as well as with the firm’s competitors – Nokia, Motorola, Sony Ericsson, Samsung and LG – will likely be helping HTC to enhance its Sense UI overlay, which runs atop its Android OS phones. There is even some speculation that the collaboration could yield portal integration.
Of course, the above is just speculation for now, with both HTC and Abaxia remaining rather tight lipped about what the acquisition may lead to. Indeed, all HTC CEO Peter Chou had to say was that the addition of Abaxia to his firm’s portfolio would “deepen and broaden our software development capabilities so that we can innovate at an even faster pace.”
Many believe this latest acquisition is further proof HTC is pushing forward with a profound shift in strategy, from a phone manufacturer whose bread and butter was building phones for other brands (Google for instance) to one trying to build up its own brand.
Chou has even alluded to such aspirations when he recently noted his ambitions for HTC to knock Apple from the third spot in worldwide smartphone shipments, and take its place behind leaders Nokia and RIM by 2012.
Analyst Jack Gold told RCR he thought HTC’s move “makes lots of sense.” He explained that it showed HTC recognized that the device market is a customized (by carrier) market and that “Abaxia gives HTC a way to differentiate its devices specific to a carrier’s need by basically dynamically customizing the home screen.”
This, apparently, is all the more important for HTC’s Android offerings where HTC has invested so much resource in the Sense interface to differentiate itself and improve on the base level Android user experience.
“This gives HTC one more tool to make its devices appealing to carriers and to differentiate itself even further in the Android space,” said Gold.
As well as scoring a ton of new know-how in deploying operator-customized services across its platform portfolio, Gold also notes the deal buys HTC an experienced team of developers who understand the intricacies of designing smart phone user interfaces.
“This is a valuable resource to have given the compelling need for HTC and other manufacturers to differentiate their devices in an increasingly crowded marketplace,” he told RCR.
It’s also not an expensive buy-out, relatively speaking, and makes rather a lot more sense – excuse the pun – than HTC’s purchase a year and a half ago of San Francisco-based One & Co., a firm more specialized in designing furniture and sportswear.