HTC Europe chief defects to Palm

Paul Ghent, HTC's executive director for Europe, has moved over to rival phonemaker Palm to become sales vice president for Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

It's an interesting defection - Ghent apparently had quite a lot to do with HTC's successful push to make itself a recognisable consumer brand (think Touch Diamond), rather than being the behind-the-scenes manufacturer of countless rebadged Windows Mobile handsets. And Palm looks set to pull off the reinvention of the decade with its new webOS platform and Pre handset.

People like Ghent seem ideal for such a task, and his move lends an extra bit of credibility to Palm's ambitious plans.