HTC Firing Employees to Focus on Exodus 1 Blockchain Phones

HTC, one of the larger smartphone and hardware manufacturers in the world, has recently reported that it will be letting go of employees to save money and put those funds more into its more emerging projects, such as blockchain phones, for example.

According to The Block, this is the third time the company will be letting its employees go, having cut 2,250 workers in 2016 and 1,500 in 2018.

It should be worth noting, however, that these blockchain phones aren’t simply phones on a blockchain network. Instead, they exist, at least for now, mainly as cryptocurrency wallets for users to hold, buy, and sell assets on exchanges and other platforms whenever they would like, all by using their phone in their pocket.

The company, based in Taiwan, just launched its Exodus 1s, a smaller version of its Exodus smartphone, in October. At its launch, the phone cost a little more than $1000, which is a big ask for users to leave their iPhones or other established devices just to get into cryptocurrencies.

Speaking on the matter at the time to CNBC was Phil Chen, the “decentralized chief officer” at HTC, stating that the 1s is “a completely different device. The Exodus 1 is still available and is hitting our internal targets. We’ve been delighted with the response.”