Smart phone designer to open Durham R&D office

HTC Corp. will employ about 45 people at the office, which will open by the end of March. The office will handle research into wireless technology and could expand in the future.

"HTC has been successful bringing its unique brand of people-centric innovation to consumers, and with the establishment of this new R&D office, we are taking an important step to extend our leadership position in the wireless industry," Ron Louks, HTC chief strategy officer, said in a statement. "Durham is a perfect place to open our new R&D office because we are able to tap into this deep pool of technical talent that complements HTC's leading-edge R&D efforts going on around the world."

The Bellevue, Wash.-based company also has research offices in Seattle and San Francisco. The former focuses on creating innovative user experience design, while the latter works on industrial designs.