From the other side of the coin, HTC sold their "seed corn[1]." Without their (premier?) phone development team, did they sell off their path to regaining phone

From the other side of the coin, HTC sold their "seed corn[1]." Without their (premier?) phone development team, did they sell off their path to regaining phone market share? [1] http://www.thefreedictionary.com/To+eat+the+seed+corn http://www.thefreedictionary.com/To+eat+the+seed+corn