Cher Wang Appointed HTC CEO, Peter Chou Switches To Product Development Role

HTC, everyone’s favorite phone-maker underdog, has announced that Chairwoman Cher Wang will replace Peter Chou as its CEO.

Bloomberg reports that Chou will not exit the Taiwanese company following the reshuffle. Instead, he is transitioning to role that sees him lead up HTC Future Development Lab, a new arm of the company that will cook up new ideas like the Flip-style RE camera and rumored smartwatch.

This change at the top is aimed at reversing the steady decline in revenue over the past few years. HTC is often credited with creating the best Android smartphones on the market, but the company has yet to convert such praise from media into serious sales figures. (Despite some pretty wacky ad campaigns to boot.)

HTC, which unveiled its new M9 smartphone and an impressive virtual reality offering at Mobile World Congress last month, pulled in a slim $14.7 million profit for its most recent quarter. It also notched its first quarter-on-quarter sales growth since Q3 2011, but that isn’t enough to keep Chou in the hot seat.

Chou’s leadership has been a hot topic for many in the industry, let alone those in HTC itself. Insiders told The Verge that the CEO was to blame for its struggles back in 2013, and the heat has only intensified since then.