HTC has seen the head of its smartphone business resign, about two weeks after it completed a deal to transfer its ODM smartphone team to Google.

HTC announced February 14 that Chialin Chang, president of the Smartphone & Connected Devices Business, resigned with immediate effect.

The company has yet to appoint a successor to Chang.

Local media reports said that after leaving HTC, Chang plans to set up a company eyeing the opportunities from the artificial intelliegence (AI) market.

After selling the smartphone ODM team to Google, HTC has said it will now focus more on developing branded smartphones and virtual reality (VR) products.