[rickdeckard]

I know everyone likes this story, but they frankly learnt much more about the western phone market several years before that, when everyone (Intel, Microsoft, Compaq, Sony, Vodafone, T-Mobile, Orange, Telefonica, O2, AT&T, then Google,...) educated HTC on how exactly they should build a phone for their markets.

HTC built up the required R&D and supplier-structure in China then, years before they put their own logo on the first device.

The remaining gap was the lack in experience on mobile platform/UX design and localization, something Microsoft wasn't very experienced themselves. But Google came to the rescue with Android, so Chinese vendors just had to study the UX on other devices and rebuild them in Android...