HSINCHU (TVBS News) － The global chip shortage affects everything from cars to consumer electronics as manufacturers vie for a slice of the silicon pie. Speaking at the annual convention of the Taiwan Semiconductor Industry Association (TSIA) on Oct. 19, the HTC President for the Asia Pacific, Charles Huang, told TVBS that every company is impacted.
Yet, the shortage could also create new opportunities for manufacturers.
"We do see a good opportunity because the VR industry is relatively small compared to the smartphone or PC industry," Huang said. "We have a very good relationship with all the components vendors. So, that will help us to secure the supply for quite some time."
HTC has been doing well in recent months and years, with the latest products being well-received on the market. But if the industry keeps expanding, are they ready to face more competition?
"We welcome all the competition because that will improve the industry, and we will see more applications coming in," Huang continued. "So it depends on how you see the market right now; we want more partners to come to this market to work with us.
The market is expanding, and HTC has remained at the forefront of the industry with some of the latest products weighing just a couple of 100 grams. "Well, there (were) a few stages of development," he recalled.
In the beginning, the user needed to connect to a PC. The next stage was called the "all-in-one," in which the user used the chips and wireless connection to connect to the content.
"The trend is going to be lighter, smaller, and thinner," he remarked before warning that there's one thing that manufacturers need to overcome: the battery size. "You need power, but you also don't want the weight of the battery around your head."
HTC also plans to release plenty of new applications over the next few months, including new VR applications such as virtual meetings. "So, speed has been accelerating in the past two years, and that's also because of COVID; people have traveled less," he concluded.
With virtual reality headsets getting lighter, smaller, and thinner, HTC is poised to deliver a more immersive yet, "socially acceptable" VR experience. These advancements will translate into a better, more integrated experience for VR users, as well as the mass adoption of the technology into our daily lives.