Taiwan's stock exchange has removed smartphone maker HTC from its index of blue chip companies, signposting the dramatic decline of a business that once ranked as Taiwan's No. 1 brand and dazzled consumers with some of the world's first Android handsets.<br />The exchange removed HTC from its FTSE TWSE Taiwan 50 index on August 21 after the company's market value declined below the level required for inclusion in the market benchmark.<br />In the past several years, HTC has struggled because of marketing and supply chain glitches as well as intense competition from Apple, Samsung Electronics and Chinese makers such as Xiaomi.<br />Last month, it announced a 15% cut in its staff of about 15,700 after a second-quarter loss of $247 million.
