HTC’s financial results for the first quarter of 2013 show how its profits have plunged year-on-year, though the smartphone manufacturer is no doubt hoping for a turnaround in Q2 driven by its new flagship device.
The company has reported its unaudited consolidated financial results for the first three months of the year, with total revenues at NT$42.8bn (about €1.09bn), a drop of 36.9pc on the previous year. At NT$85m (€2.17m), the company’s quarterly net profit is 91.5pc below the same figure from Q1 2012.
One costly mistake
In February, the company was expected to report revenues between NT$50bn and NT$60bn, but this was before its flagship HTC One suffered a delayed launch.
The all-metal smartphone that Mobile World Congress named best new mobile device was expected to be available in March, in time to boost HTC’s first-quarter earnings. Though it reached the UK before the month ran out (Irish operators began selling the phones on 2 April), it has yet to reach the lucrative US market, now slated for release there on 19 April.
The delay was said to have been caused by a components shortage, with one HTC executive attributing this to the company’s declining status in the eyes of suppliers.
Changing fortunes
Looking back at 2010, HTC was the largest Android vendor in the US, but has since been struggling against fierce competition from Samsung. The Taiwanese brand saw its global smartphone market share drop from 8.8pc in 2011 to 4.6pc last year, according to IDC figures, but it was hoped that the HTC One would mark the beginning of a bright 2013 for the manufacturer.
Perhaps HTC will see a turnaround in Q2, while there’s also the promise of the HTC First, a collaboration with Facebook that centres the low-cost phone around the billion-strong social network.
