14 DAY TRIAL // It looks like Google and Facebook managed to tap two high-profile executives working for major smartphone companies. In a surprising move, Xiaomi's VP Hugo Barra announced earlier this week that he would be joining Facebook's Oculus VR team.
Today, HTC's Head of Design Claude Zellweger announced he already departed the Taiwanese company to join Google's Daydream division. The information has since been confirmed by HTC as well.
“HTC can confirm that Claude Zellweger has left the Company. We appreciate his considerable contribution to HTC, and wish him well in his future endeavors. HTC continues to invest in talent and recruitment as part of our broader strategy to ensure the continued strength and integrity of the company's organizational structure.”
Claude Zellweger and Scott Croyle are the men responsible for the design of the original HTC One smartphone, the same design that's been cloned to some degree into most flagships the Taiwanese company has since released on the market.
Moreover, Zellweger led the team that built the HTC Vive, which is probably one of the reasons he's been tapped by Google to work for its VR division.
Interestingly, sources told Engadget that Claude Zellweger left HTC back in July 2015, but agreed on a grace period, just like CEO Peter Chou in 2015. It's unclear if Zellweger influenced the design of the current HTC flagship, the U Ultra, or its mid-range counterpart, the U Play.
Moving forward, Daniel Hundt will be leading HTC's smartphone design division, but as far as Vive project goes, that's a completely different subsidiary that works independently.
Is it a coincidence that two important execs coming from smartphone businesses took jobs in the VR world?
We believe Google and Facebook have invested a lot in their Daydream and Oculus projects to back down, so it might be that the future of VR looks bright at the moment.