HTC sees profits plummet by 79% as competition heats up
Falls to $133 million in Q3
The motivation behind HTC's decision to push forward with new flagship Windows Phone handsets became rather clearer today, with the Taiwanese manufacturer's financial figures for Q3 2012 painting a rather gloomy picture.
HTC (TWSE: 2498), which has previously led with Android devices, saw net profits fall by 79 percent year on year to NT$3.9 billion – around $133 million - during its most recent quarter.
Attacked from both sidesThat was from total revenues of NT$70.2 billion ($2.4 billion), down 48 percent from the same period in 2011, with analysts claiming HTC's business is effectively been squeezed from both sides.
While Apple's business continues to grow unabated – iPhone 5 sales breaking records during its launch weekend – Samsung has slowly been pushing down HTC's Android share in many western territories.
The company was believed to have turned a corner earlier in the year following the launch of its last Android flagship range – the HTC One family – predicting stronger demand for the rest of the year.
However, it appears Samsung's Galaxy S III has since fought back to beat HTC back down, with the manufacturer now turning to its two new Windows Phone devices – the 8X and 8S – to revive its fortunes.
[source: HTC]
