HTC is reportedly hiring staff in an attempt to build its very own mobile applications store.
This was the claim made today by the Financial Times, which said two sources with knowledge of the situation confirmed an online store for e-books and apps was in the offing.
The Taiwanese firm's handsets currently run Google's Android mobile operating system (OS), as well as Microsoft's new Windows Phone 7 OS, meaning if an app store were to open it would go into direct competition with Android's Market and Window's Marketplace.
One source said HTC was in the process of hiring content editors for e-books, magazines and phones, as well as mobile apps. The team will start out small and be based in HTC's homeland of Taiwan, before expanding to 100 people across the globe, added the source.
We contacted HTC for comment on the proposal but a spokesperson just told IT PRO: "We don't comment on rumour and speculation."
HTC has been growing steadily stronger over the course of the year, thanks to the explosion of smartphones. However, even with a third quarter profit of 1.6 billion, it only places fifth in manufacturer league tables behind Nokia, Apple, RIM and Samsung, according to a recent report by IDC.
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