Palm, i-mate, O2 Return to HTC for Device Manufacturing

Several major smartphone companies including Palm and i-mate have reportedly placed orders with HTC, resuming relationships that had been previously severed.

According to a report in the Chinese-language newspaper Commercial Times, HTC's revenues have been recently boosted by new production contracts from Palm, i-mate, and MWG, which is the manufacturing arm of international carrier O2.

Previously, many major smartphone companies including i-mate and Palm had severed ties with HTC around the time that the Taiwan-based company began marketing smartphones under its own brand, rather than selling them to others as had been previously done.

It's unclear whether this new move reflects a lack of confidence in alternative manufacturers such as Inventec and Tech Faith Wireless, or if other sellers are no longer concerned about contracting out their manufacturing duties to a company which they compete with.

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Via Digitimes