TAIPEI (Taiwan News) — A decade after its disastrous fall from a 2011 peak, Taiwan consumer electronics company HTC is seeing strong buying this week, thanks to a metaverse craze.
On Oct. 18 (Monday), HTC's share price surged 9.87% to close at NT$38.40. It continued the upward trend in following trading sessions by adding 4.04% on Tuesday, 9.89% on Wednesday, and 9.91% on Thursday, on the back of net buying by foreign investors since Oct. 15.
HTC's share price shot up 25.65% this week, as of Thursday.
The company's long endeavor to build a virtual and augmented reality ecosystem seems to be paying off now American tech giants are entering "the metaverse," which refers to a variety of virtual experiences suited to work, play, and socializing. Demand for VAR technologies and applications is taking off.
HTC's Asia-Pacific head Huang Zhaoying (黃昭穎) recently said its latest lightweight and stylish virtual reality headset — VIVE Flow — could be the best-selling product among the company's VIVE series.
Facebook is reportedly planning to change its name to reflect its new metaverse ambitions as soon as late October. Meanwhile, Microsoft and American video game developers like Roblox and Epic Games have also shown interest.
In a recent interview with Meet Global, Rotten Tomatoes co-founder Patrick Lee talked about the metaverse craze and said Taiwan has a small but growing ecosystem centered on the metaverse.
In 2008, HTC made the world's first Android handset and witnessed remarkable growth until the Spring of 2011. It recorded its highest share price of NT$1,300 (US$46.6) on April 29, 2011, but went into free fall after the disappointing performance of its phone division, which was described as "unoriginal and uncompetitive" and lost market share to its mainly Chinese rivals.
HTC's VIVE Flow. (HTC photo)
