HTC admitted that it needs to be innovative to regain ground from Apple and Android smartphone manufacturers. An internal memo seen by The Wall Street Journal calls on the company's more than 16,700 employees to ignore the negativity from the market.

"Do not be influenced by noise from the market and the industry. We are a strong player in the market and we are just having short-term challenges," HTC CEO Peter Chou said.

HTC spokesperson Jessica pan confirmed that the memo is real. It is aimed at "boosting morale".

It seems similar to the memo sent out by Nokia CEO Stephen Elop at the beginning of his tenure. He described Nokia as a "burning platform," and wrote passionately about where the company needs to head. The memo quickly leaked after publication.

HTC's rise to fame came from popular Android devices including the HTC Desire. However, the company scaled back the phones released with the launch of its One family -- a trio of phones aimed at the high-, mid-, and low-end consumers.

"Analysts say the company lacks flagship models that are likely to take off in overseas markets. Morever, they said, the Chinese mobile-phone market is dominated by models in the low- to mid-tier prices, so HTC's strategy to compete through high-end models may not pay dividends," The Wall Street Journal added. It is not clear whether high-end devices like the HTC Desire HD will get continued support through an update to Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich

"HTC used to be a company where we did things quick and reacted quick. However, the fast growth from the last 2 years has slowed us down. We agreed to do something, but either didn't do it, or executed it loosely," Chou added.

HTC saw its growth slow as manufacturers including Samsung released popular smartphones like the Galaxy S2, selling 20 million units. Samsung followed up the success with the launch of Galaxy S3 May 29, selling 10 million units thus far. With the iPhone 4 possibly arriving in September, HTC finds itself in a position where consumer mindshare is with competitors.