HTC Posts Worst Quarterly Profit Ever Ahead of Delayed One Smartphone
Oh, how the mighty have fallen. Just two short years ago, it seemed as though HTC could do no wrong. The early Android adopter had doubled its earnings and had reason to believe the good times would keep on rolling, and though revenue had begun to decline by the end of 2011, HTC was still the envy of most mobile players. Fast forward to today and things look quite a bit different.
Samsung and Apple are the top dogs, leaving the competition to feast for scraps. As a result, HTC posted a rather pathetic NT$85 million (about $2.8 million in U.S. currency) profit during the last three months. Yes, the company is still in the black, but that's the lowest profit HTC has ever seen and well below the $470 million profit it posted a year ago.
HTC can't blame all of its woes on the competition; some of it is self inflicted. Specifically, the delayed launch of its highly anticipated One smartphone ultimately hurt the company's bottom line. On paper, the One looks to be a wonderful device, but that only matters if consumers can actually purchase one, and right now most can't (it's only available in three countries). Recent rumors suggest HTC is having trouble securing components from suppliers who longer view the handset maker as a top tier customer.
The good news is there's still time for HTC to turn things around. Getting the One into more markets sooner than later will help, and so too might the launch of HTC's upcoming First, the first so-called Facebook phone to come with Home pre-installed.
Samsung and Apple are the top dogs, leaving the competition to feast for scraps. As a result, HTC posted a rather pathetic NT$85 million (about $2.8 million in U.S. currency) profit during the last three months. Yes, the company is still in the black, but that's the lowest profit HTC has ever seen and well below the $470 million profit it posted a year ago.
HTC can't blame all of its woes on the competition; some of it is self inflicted. Specifically, the delayed launch of its highly anticipated One smartphone ultimately hurt the company's bottom line. On paper, the One looks to be a wonderful device, but that only matters if consumers can actually purchase one, and right now most can't (it's only available in three countries). Recent rumors suggest HTC is having trouble securing components from suppliers who longer view the handset maker as a top tier customer.
The good news is there's still time for HTC to turn things around. Getting the One into more markets sooner than later will help, and so too might the launch of HTC's upcoming First, the first so-called Facebook phone to come with Home pre-installed.
