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HTC is going through the hardest period of its existence as it battles to remain competitive in a very demanding market. The company just announced the first quarterly loss since it went public in 2002, and, worse than that, there’s no light at the end of tunnel.

That doesn’t seem to dampen the spirits of HTC chairwoman Cher Wang, though surely we can’t expect her to say otherwise. Talking to CNBC, the executive downplayed the importance of stock performance, claiming that she prefers to focus on innovation and vision for the future.

[quote qtext=”Stock price is really the past. Innovation is the future. I actually never look into the price, it doesn’t influence me. The (ability) of the company to be able to stick with (its) vision is the most important. ” qperson=”” qsource=”” qposition=”center”]

Wang refuted once again the rumors about a possible takeover of HTC by a richer competitor from mainland China: “We [HTC] don’t need to be taken over,” said Wang in the interview, going on to say that she doesn’t expect a change in the executive team. Wang praised the company’s longtime CEO Peter Chou:

[quote qtext=”Peter is a great guy. He has a lot of innovative ideas and he’s very charismatic.” qperson=”” qsource=”” qposition=”center”]

While few deny that Peter Chou has charisma, an increasing number of voices ask for a change at the top of HTC. Regardless of Mrs. Wang’s statements, investors don’t trust that HTC is on the path to recovery, and the repeated rumors that Huawei, ZTE or another player might swoop in and take over aren’t doing good to the company’s image.

For HTC, the next milestone is the launch of the One Max, a 5.9-inch behemoth that would rival the Note 3. However, large devices like the Max are not as attractive to the general public as, say the 4.7-inch One is, so the company may not find in it the financial respite it needs.

Cher Wang promised “a very interesting road map” for the next months, without going into detail.