Google share price: Google completes HTC deal, acquires smartphone design staff

Google shares ended the US Monday trading session lower, ahead of an announcement earlier Tuesday the tech giant has finalised its deal with HTC. With all the I’s dotted and t’s crossed, Google now owns a portion of HTC, and is responsible for much of its smartphone design staff.

The completion of the deal – which sees Google pay $1.1 billion for elements of HTC’s smartphone hardware division – comes just after the global tech business announced its investment in Indonesia’s ride-hailing start-up, Go-Jek.

Google shares closed 0.09% lower in the US Monday, at $1,186.48. After-hours activity is currently pointing to a lower open Tuesday, too.

Google welcomes HTC talent

While the deal was initially announced in September 2017, the completion of Google’s acquisition of a slice of HTC, prompted a short, official post from Google’s senior vice president of hardware, Rick Osterloh.

“I’m delighted that we’ve officially closed our deal with HTC, and are welcoming an incredibly talented team to work on even better and more innovative products in the years to come,” Osterloh said.

The HTC smartphone design team are no strangers to Google, they’ve worked with them on the tech giant’s own smartphones, Pixel and Pixel 2. The tie-up clearly conveys Google’s ambitions to create even more hardware to help grow its customer base in the future.

“As our hardware business enters its third year, we remain committed to building and investing for the long run,” Osterloh said.

“Today, we start digging in with our new teammates, guided by the mission to create radically helpful experiences for people around the world, by combining the best of Google’s AI, software and hardware,” he added.

Google ups investment in Indonesia

Google also announced Monday, it had invested in Indonesian ride-hailing start-up, Go-Jek. While Indonesia is a region that isn’t yet fully support by the internet, Google is ensuring it will be a brand of choice as it increasingly moves online.

“We’ve invested in one of Indonesia’s leading start-ups, Go-Jek,” said Caesar Sengupta, a vice president at Google.

“This investment lets us partner with a great local champion in Indonesia’s flourishing start-up ecosystem, while also deepening our commitment to Indonesia’s internet economy,” Sengupta added.