This morning, we’re hearing that HTC’s VP of Industrial Design has resigned from the company. This comes less than a year after he was appointed as VP of Industrial Design. However, Becker had been with HTC for over 6 years. Becker announced his departure via Twitter this morning, which HTC then confirmed.
“We can confirm that Jonah Becker has left HTC; he had been with the Company since HTC acquired One & Co over six years ago. We would like to thank Jonah for his work with HTC, and wish him all the best in his future endeavours. He has been succeeded by Daniel Hundt, based in our San Francisco design office.”
Now with Becker gone, and Scott Croyle having left last year. All that’s left is Claude Zellweger from HTC’s One & Co which they acquired about 6 years ago. This is the design firm that’s been working on HTC’s smartphone and connected product designs for a few years now. Zellweger is not taking Becker’s place however. He will continue to work on connected products, i.e. Re Camera, and others. However, Daniel Hundt is taking over for Johan Becker. Hundt will be focusing on smartphones, and is the current creative director for HTC.
This announcement from Becker comes just a week after HTC shook up their executives, with Peter Chou and Cher Wang being moved around. Cher Wang is now the CEO of HTC. With Peter Chou working in their Future Development Lab. So far we have no clue as to why Becker left HTC, but Engadget is reporting that there is an increasing power struggle between the sales team and the design team these days. Which is likely part of the reason Croyle and Becker left so soon. Engadget also states that HTC’s change from the UltraPixel in the M7 and M8 to the 20-Megapixel shooter in the M9 is part of that power struggle.
Lots of shakeups happening at HTC, and Samsung even went through their own shakeups earlier this year. It’s always good to refresh stuff and get new perspectives. So this could be a good thing for HTC, who has been struggling to regain their dominance they achieved in 2010-2011.