Taiwan: Struggling smartphone maker HTC booted from blue chip index

The HTC One M8 on display in New York last year. Pic: AP.

TAIPEI, Taiwan (AP) — Taiwan’s stock exchange has removed smartphone maker HTC from its index of blue chip companies, marking the dramatic decline of a business that once ranked as Taiwan’s No. 1 brand and dazzled consumers with some of the world’s first Android handsets.

The exchange removed HTC from its FTSE TWSE Taiwan 50 index on Monday after the company’s market value had declined below the amount of cash it reported at the end of June.

The index lists Taiwan’s 50 biggest companies which together represent 70 percent of the market’s value.

HTC has struggled in recent years with marketing, supply chain glitches and competition.

Last month, HTC announced a 15 percent cut in its staff of about 15,700 after a second-quarter loss of $247 million.