HTC stays on profitable path as flagship device strategy pays dividends

7 Apr 2015

HTC One M9

HTC’s reorientation in the direction of flagship devices is paying off and, according to unaudited results, the company has recorded a profit of US$11.6m for Q1.

This compares with a loss of US$60m a year ago.

The company reported Q1 unaudited revenues of US$1.3bn, compared with US$1.06bn last year.

HTC returned to profitability in the last quarter of 2014, following almost three years of losses.

The key turning point for HTC has been its emphasis on a few rather than many flagship devices, and the success of last year’s M8 bodes well for further success with its latest flagship device the HTC One M9, which has just been followed by the M8s device.

In recent weeks HTC chair and co-founder Cher Wang took over the CEO position from Peter Chou.

The company has also begun veering into new areas, such as with a new virtual reality headset in partnership with Valve, which the company unveiled at Mobile World Congress.

However, HTC is not out of the woods just yet. Recent news that the company’s head of design Jonah Becker has departed the company just months after HTC’s long-time design chief Scott Croyle could disrupt the progress HTC has made in terms of design and craftsmanship.

It is understood that Becker is to be replaced by creative director Daniel Hundt.

John Kennedy is a journalist who served as editor of Silicon Republic for 17 years

editorial@siliconrepublic.com