HTC has completed the deal of transferring its ODM smartphone team to Google, and the company will now focus more on developing branded smartphone and VR products, according to a company announcement.

The two companies signed the deal in September 2017 for US$1.1 billion.

HTC will continue to build its VR ecosystem to drive its VR business, while committing more investments to other innovative technologies, including IoT, AR and AI, the company said.

In addition to launching new branded smartphones in 2018, HTC is also expected to continue to land Pixel phone orders from Google on an OEM basis, according to industry sources in Taiwan.

Meanwhile, Google hardware senior vice president Rick Osterloh said Google is expanding its footprint in the Asia Pacific region with the official close of the deal with HTC.