When Taiwanese smart-phone maker HTC launched its first own-brand phone in Asia this summer, it had professionals running the show: a dance theatre troupe was hired to perform the story of HTC's rapid rise from a tiny contract manufacturing outfit in 1997 to the world market leader for Windows-based smart- phones today.

But the company unwittingly gave a demonstration of just how big a leap it was taking in building its own brand. When the troupe led chief executive Peter Chou on to the stage, he looked slightly awkward - an engineer among dancers.