What Google buying HTC means for the mobile industry The rumors drifted around about a possible Google purchase of HTC for only a short time before the news was confirmed, but the details were a surprise. As we now know, Google didn’t outright buy HTC, their patents, their VR team, or their manufacturing capabilities. Any or all may have been on the table though, depending on how bad you think HTC’s struggles are right now. Instead, Google “acqui-hired” a 2,000 strong R&D workforce from HTC, many of whom were already working on the Pixel. Google also bought some non-exclusive rights to HTC’s intellectual property, and possibly an RF Lab too. The deal is due to settle in early 2018. Many keen watchers were left a little mystified as to why exactly Google would pay around half a million dollars for each employee. Google senior vice president of hardware Rick Osterloh explained the decision in a blog post . Formerly president of Motorola, Osterloh returned ...