Smartphone developer HTC's market share fell from a peak in 2011 to about 1% last year, per tech research firm IDC data. The Taiwanese company has struggled to compete in recent years with other Android handset makers on marketing, sales channels and specs. It lost money in 2017 and profited last year only after letting Google buy part of its staff. But now a unique piece of hardware for 5G mobile users stands to give HTC at least a short-term income boost.