HTC Invests in Onlive Gaming Company

HTC’s most recent investment of $40 million in Onlive will help the Taiwan-based smartphone-maker deliver rich games and content to the mobile platform. The move will help HTC remain competitive against Apple’s iOS platform, which has attracted a large number of games from developers, and also rival Sony Ericsson in the Android space with the XPERIA Play, an Android smartphone also commonly referred to as the PlayStation Phone–that device is expected to make a debut at Mobile World Congress.

In addition to the Onlive investment, HTC also Saffron Digital, which provides media and content services to manufacturers and carriers; HTC says that Saffron Digital will continue to do business with its clients as it has done before, which would include HTC’s competitors such as Sony Ericsson, LG, Nokia, and Samsung.

The company has also in recent times acquired One & Co., a San Francisco, California-based design firm along with Paris-based Abaxia, which develops software.

HTC’s many recent acquisitions and investments in software companies highlight the importance of software, user interfaces, and user experiences in the mobile smartphone war. The company has historically added HTC Sense, a user interface overlay, to many of its Windows Mobile, Windows Phone 7, and Android devices to enhance the user experience. With games and apps at the forefront of HTC’s strategy, it’d be interesting what devices and services the company will come up with next.

Via: WSJ