Peter Chou ( zh, 周永明) or Win Than () (born 24 November 1956) is a Burmese-born Taiwanese businessman and electronics engineer. He is co-founder of

HTC HTC Corporation ( zh, t=宏達國際電子股份有限公司, p=Hóngdá Guójì Diànzǐ Gǔfèn Yǒuxiàn Gōngsī, first=t), or High Tech Computer Corporation (abbreviated and trading as HTC), is a Taiwanese consumer electronics corporatio ...

and a former CEO of the company. Chou founded HTC with

Cher Wang Cher Wang ( zh, t=王雪紅, p=Wáng Xuěhóng; born 15 September 1958) is a Taiwanese businesswoman and entrepreneur. As co-founder and chairperson (since 2007) of HTC Corporation and integrated chipset maker VIA Technologies, she is one of t ...

and H.T.Cho (卓火土) before being named CEO of HTC in 2004, succeeding H.T.Cho. In order to spearhead innovation initiatives for HTC, Chou would later serve as head of HTC Future Development Lab starting early 2015, with Cher Wang succeeding as CEO.

Early life and education

Chou, a member of the

Burmese Chinese Chinese Burmese, also Sino-Burmese or Tayoke (), are Burmese citizens of Han Chinese ethnicity. They are a group of overseas Chinese born or raised in Myanmar (Burma). Burmese Chinese are a well established ethnic group and are well represen ...

community, was born in

Mandalay Mandalay is the second-largest city in Myanmar, after Yangon. It is located on the east bank of the Irrawaddy River, 631 km (392 mi) north of Yangon. In 2014, the city had a population of 1,225,553. Mandalay was founded in 1857 by Ki ...

, Burma (now Myanmar) in 1956. Chou's father worked in Burma's jade industry. He attended Mandalay Regional College. After school, Chou went to Taiwan and continued to study part-time in the car audio company assembling electronic parts. Chou graduated from

National Taiwan Ocean University National Taiwan Ocean University (NTOU; ) is a national university in Zhongzheng District, Keelung, Zhongzheng District, Keelung, Taiwan. NTOU is a member of University System of Taipei. History NTOU was originally established as the Provincia ...

in 1985 with a degree in Electrical Engineering. In 1987, Chou became a senior engineer at

Digital Equipment Corporation Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC ), using the trademark Digital, was a major American company in the computer industry from the 1960s to the 1990s. The company was co-founded by Ken Olsen and Harlan Anderson in 1957. Olsen was president until ...

; in 1997, HP merged with DEC. In 1997, he founded HTC with

and H.T.Cho (卓火土). Chou had received an Executive MBA from

National Chengchi University National Chengchi University () is a public research university in Taipei, Taiwan. First established in Nanjing in 1927, the university was subsequently reestablished in 1954 in Taiwan as the first reestablished "National University". The u ...

in 2003 after co-founding HTC. He attended

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate school, graduate business school of Harvard University, a Private university, private Ivy League research university. Located in Allston, Massachusetts, HBS owns Harvard Business Publishing, which p ...

's six-week Advanced Management Program. In 2013, HTC launched one of the first

smartphone A smartphone is a mobile phone with advanced computing capabilities. It typically has a touchscreen interface, allowing users to access a wide range of applications and services, such as web browsing, email, and social media, as well as multi ...

s to offer

commercial off-the-shelf Commercial-off-the-shelf or commercially available off-the-shelf (COTS) products are packaged or canned (ready-made) hardware or software, which are adapted aftermarket to the needs of the purchasing organization, rather than the commissioning of ...

compatibility with Burmese language text.

Career

Before HTC Prior to joining HTC, Chou spent 10 years with

(DEC), eventually serving as director before DEC's later merger with HP Corporation. HTC Corporation Chou was asked to join the founding of HTC Corporation by former superior H.T. Cho in 1997, and was named CEO in 2004. Under his leadership, Chou has led the charge not only to establish HTC as a global smartphone brand, but also the shaping of the global smartphone industry landscape in its early years. Chou's term as CEO was credited with many industry innovations, from the first 4G-capable smartphone to one of the first smartphones to offer commercial off-the-shelf compatibility with Burmese language text. With his strong belief and industry experience in the values of entrepreneurship and innovation, Chou saw to adjusting his CEO leadership roles to directing product initiatives at the forefront as head of HTC Future Development Lab, with Cher Wang succeeding the mantle as CEO of HTC Corporation in early 2015. Chou has received numerous awards including Laptop Magazine's #5 most influential mobile executive, the prestigious Wireless Week Leadership Award for extraordinary achievements in mobile communications and T3 Magazine's #13 most influential technology executive.

Personal life

In his spare time, Chou enjoys reading, appreciating all forms of art and listening to classical music.

References

External links

Interview
with

The Verge ''The Verge'' is an American Technology journalism, technology news website headquarters, headquartered in Lower Manhattan, New York City and operated by Vox Media. The website publishes news, feature stories, guidebooks, product reviews, cons ...

Biography
{{DEFAULTSORT:Chou, Peter 1954 births Living people Burmese emigrants to Taiwan Burmese people of Chinese descent Businesspeople from Taipei Businesspeople in information technology National Chengchi University alumni National Taiwan Ocean University alumni People from Mandalay Taiwanese billionaires Taiwanese chief executives Taiwanese company founders Taiwanese electrical engineers