Three HTC employees are reportedly being probed by Taiwanese prosecutors after claims of stealing trade secrets and selling them to Chinese firms.
As part of the probe, investigators have explored HTC’s research and development centre and the suspects’ place of works and homes following the company’s accusations of stealing key interface technology.
According to HTC, the three employees reportedly discussed plans with anonymous Chinese firms to acquire the technology, China Times newspaper reported.
The technology was developed for use in HTC’s latest Sense 6.0 smartphones scheduled for launch later this year.
HTC also accused the suspects of illegally claiming over $330,000 in design fees with falsified vouchers.
In addition, the Central News Agency reported that the suspects reportedly planned to set up their own smartphone design firms in both Taiwan and China.
HTC said in a statement: "The matter is under investigation by relevant authorities. We therefore refrain from further comments."
The Taiwanese firm has been facing severe competition from international rivals, while its second quarter net profit also dropped 83% compared to corresponding quarter in 2012.
