More when it comes to Android. They're locked into a set of agreements that means while HTC produce Google-Android phones (the only type that'll sell in the western world), they're unable to produce or sell any phones with Android compatibility that don't run Google's exact version of Android. It goes by the innocuous name of the 'Open Handset Alliance'.

It's why there won't be an HTC Kindle, a Sony BlackBerry, an Acer Aliyun - or an Alien Dalvik-toting Sailfish OS device from any one of these manufacturers.

It means that for for HTC's bread and butter (smartphones), Google can leverage an unfair amount of control over what they do.