Has Google acquired HTC? We'll find out soon

The rumors that Google is looking to buy part of stumbling Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC might be confirmed or denied very soon. On Wednesday, the Taiwanese Stock Exchange (TWSE) said it will halt trading in HTC shares, starting Sept. 2017, pending an important announcement.

This does not necessarily confirm an acquisition by Google or anyone else—the trading of company stock can be halted for a number of reasons.

But given the dire state HTC is in, something needs to happen, and an acquisition is the most likely scenario.

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Known leaker of all things mobile, Evan Blass, chimed in on Twitter, saying HTC is having an internal meeting with one of the topics being a Google acquisition.

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A recent report claimed that Google is looking to acquire only HTC's mobile arm, which makes sense since HTC is also making phones for Google. The company manufactured Google's Pixel and Pixel XL phones. Rumors claim that Google has contracted HTC to build the next generation of Pixel phones as well.

On the other hand, Google once owned a phone company, and things didn't go so well. The internet giant bought Motorola Mobility for about $12.5 billion in 2012, and it ended up selling it two years later for a mere $2.9 billion.

HTC also makes the VR headset Vive, which is perceived as the biggest competitor to Facebook's Oculus Rift. Google also has an interest in VR, so it's possible that the company is looking to buy HTC's VR division as well.

For HTC, whose stock price and market share have been steadily falling since 2011, an acquisition seems like a logical, if not the only, way out. We'll update this article when we know more about HTC's announcement.