HTC ends movie streaming service in 8 markets

HTC says it will be shuttering its Watch service, which streams movie and TV via Wi-Fi, in eight markets as it looks to focus on markets with higher traffic.

According to a report by Focus Taiwan last Sunday, the Watch service will no longer be available to consumers in Italy, Spain, Sweden, Denmark, Norway, Netherlands, New Zealand and Japan after May 31, 2013.

"As we continue to deliver new content for HTC Watch, we've made the decision to focus our efforts on markets with the highest engagement," the company said in the report.

The Watch service was initially launched in April 2011 and to beef up its offerings, HTC made a US$40 million investment in U.S. cloud games service provider OnLive to provide more digital content to its mobile devices. Last August, however, the investment was written off as a loss after OnLive applied for asset restructuring due to a lack of operating cash and inability to raise new capital, Focus Taiwan added.

The Taiwanese smartphone maker is likely to be focusing on maximizing its revenues of existing products and services after a poor first quarter reported last week. Its profit, for instance, was US$2.85 million and represents a 98 percent year-on-year decline from US$152 million due to delays in bringing its flagship HTC One smartphone to market.