Jonah Becker, Vice President of Industrial Design at HTC, has announced that he has left the company, news which has also been confirmed by HTC. Becker had taken up the roll less last April from Scott Croyle, and is to be succeeded by HTC Creative Director Daniel Hundt.
Becker worked for One & Co when it was acquired by HTC back in 2008. Both Croyle and Becker had worked at the company, but the departure leaves Claude Zellweger is the last remaining senior designer from One & Co at HTC.
It’s been an amazing seventeen year journey with One & Co and HTC, but it’s time for a new adventure. Stay tuned for details of what’s next.
— Jonah Becker (@JonahABecker) March 26, 2015
HTC has already undergone a major senior managerial shake-up this month, Peter Chou stepped down as CEO and has been replaced by Cher Wang. This leadership adjustment looks to be marking a change in direction for the company, but it is not known how much or little this influenced Becker’s decision. For HTC, losing its second lead designer in less than a year suggests deeper internal issues within its senior ranks.
Although the reasons for Becker’s departure have not been made clear, one industry source suggests that there has been an ongoing power struggle between the HTC design team and the company’s sales goals. How much of this struggle is reflected in the HTC One M9’s similar aesthetic design and subtle component changes from its predecessor, I don’t suppose we’ll ever know.
Here is the statement from HTC with regards to Jonah Becker’s departure:
“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.”