| Peter Chou | |
| Native Name: | 周永明 |
| Birthname: | Win Than |
| Birth Place: | Mandalay, Burma |
| Nationality: | Taiwanese |
| Alma Mater: | National Chengchi University (EMBA) National Taiwan Ocean University (BSEE) Mandalay Regional College |
| Occupation: | Businessman, electronics engineer |
| Employer: | HTC Digital Equipment Corporation |
| Notable Works: | 猴子理論 |
| Awards: | National Taiwan Ocean University honorary engineering Ph.D. (2011) National Taiwan Ocean University Distinguished Alumni (2009) |
Peter Chou (Chinese: 周永明) or Win Than (Burmese: ဝင်းသန်း) (born 24 November 1956) is a Burmese-born Taiwanese businessman and electronics engineer. He is the former HTC CEO chief executive officer and a co-founder of HTC. Chou founded HTC with Cher Wang (王雪紅) 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.
Chou, a member of the Burmese Chinese community, was born in Mandalay, Burma (now Myanmar) in 1956.[1] Chou's father worked in Burma's jade industry. He attended Mandalay Regional College.[1]
After school, Chou went to Taiwan and continued to study part-time in the car audio company assembling electronic parts.[2] Chou graduated from National Taiwan Ocean University in 1985 with a degree in Electrical Engineering. In 1987, Chou became a senior engineer at Digital Equipment Corporation; in 1997, HP merged with DEC.[3]
In 1997, he founded HTC with Cher Wang (王雪紅) and H.T.Cho (卓火土). Chou had received an Executive MBA from National Chengchi University in 2003 after co-founding HTC. He attended Harvard Business School's six-week Advanced Management Program.
In 2013, HTC launched one of the first smartphones to offer commercial off-the-shelf compatibility with Burmese language text.[4] [5]
Before HTC
Prior to joining HTC, Chou spent 10years with Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC), eventually serving as directorbefore DEC's later merger with HP Corporation.
HTC Corporation
Chou was askedto join the founding of HTC Corporation by former superior H.T. Cho in 1997, andwas named CEO in 2004. Under his leadership, Chou has led the charge not onlyto establish HTC as a global smartphone brand, but also the shaping of theglobal smartphone industry landscape in its early years. Chou's term as CEO wascredited with many industry innovations, from the first 4G-capable smartphoneto one of the first smartphones to offer commercial off-the-shelf compatibility with Burmeselanguage text.
With hisstrong belief and industry experience in the values of entrepreneurship andinnovation, Chou saw to adjusting his CEO leadership roles to directing productinitiatives at the forefront as head of HTC Future Development Lab, with CherWang succeeding the mantle as CEO of HTC Corporation in early 2015.
Chou hasreceived numerous awards including Laptop Magazine's #5 most influential mobileexecutive, the prestigious Wireless Week Leadership Award for extraordinaryachievements in mobile communications and T3 Magazine's #13 most influentialtechnology executive.
In his spare time, Chou enjoys reading, appreciating all forms of art and listening to classical music.