HTC profits down 83% in second quarter

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HTC’s second quarter net profit plummeted 83% year-on-year as sales of the company’s latest flagship handset failed to meet expectations.

The company reported net profit of NT$1.25 billion (€32 million), down from NT$7.4 billion a year earlier. Revenue totalled NT$70.7 billion, down 22%.

Results for the quarter should have been boosted by sales of the new HTC One smartphone. It went on sale in April, although the company had originally hoped to launch it at the end of March. The delay put the HTC One in closer competition with Samsung Electronics’ Galaxy S4 smartphone, which went on to reach sales of 10 million units within a month of its launch in late April.

Heated competition with Samsung and Apple is a major reason for HTC’s financial woes, analysts say. To revive its smartphone business, HTC in 2012 launched its new One series to help create more brand visibility. The company is also expanding in mainland China, now the world’s largest smartphone market, and is spending more efforts on marketing.

Last month in Taiwan, HTC also launched a new 5" smartphone, called the Butterfly s, that could end up other markets later this year.

There was one small silver lining for HTC: Profit was slightly up, quarter on quarter, from the record low of NT$85 million that HTC reported in the first quarter.

IDG News Service

Read More: HTC Results