HTC is hiring staff to prepare for the possible launch of an online store that would sell e-books and applications, two people with knowledge of the situation told the Financial Times. The paper's sources said HTC was hiring content editors for a planned online HTC store for its smartphones, including for e-books and magazines as well as for applications. The team is understood initially to include a small number of staff based in Taiwan, with plans to expand to 100 people in different locations around the world. HTC in September partnered with Kobo, a US e-books distributor, to offer Kobo's content on HTC devices globally. Another person close to HTC said, however, that the hires involved more than just the Kobo deal and were probably linked to the expansion of the newly-launched HTC Sense.com service. HTC said it is "growing very fast and we are hiring for a variety of positions including marketers, developers, technical writers and many others. We are always exploring new areas we can add value to our customers but we can't comment on our future plans."
