The right time for OBM came in 2006, when the secretive touch-screen project had reached major break-
throughs. In the meantime, HTC’s revenue, margin and net profit all reached record highs. The arrival of this new generation of smartphones with an innovative touch-screen experience seemed like the perfect product with which to go solo. In 2006, the company formally triggered the process of launching a new mobile phone line under the HTC brand. “We should now be the one making the call and no longer the one waiting for the call,” Chou stated.