DailyTech - HTC's Woes Continue as it Posts Big Earnings Miss

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Gadgets HTC's Woes Continue as it Posts Big Earnings Miss
Jason Mick (Blog) - October 8, 2012 10:40 AM

19 comment(s) - last by andrewaggb.. on Oct 9 at 12:32 PM

So much for the "recovery"

HTC Corp.'s (TPE:2498) latest unaudited earnings release on Monday left more troubling questions than palatable answers, as the company posted a large miss.

According to Financial Times' survey of 23 analysts, the average expectation was around $5.4B TWD (Taiwanese dollars; 1 TWD = 0.034 USD). Instead HTC posted a miserable $4B TWD -- a serious warning sign that the company may have hit a major pothole along the road to recovery.

HTC's profit was approximately 50 percent lower than it was last year. Q3 2011 was HTC's last strong quarter. Fueled by sales of its popular Android handsets, the company cheered strong sales and sustained growth last year as it briefly topped U.S. sales charts, according to some analyst estimates.

But in Q4 2011 the company posted a huge earnings miss, and the string of bad financials has continued ever since, driven by slumping sales.

The company's reported revenue was $70.2B TWD ($2.4B USD).

The company's short-term turnaround prospects hedge on a colorful pair of Windows Phone 8 handsets (the 8S and 8X) and a high end Android 4.1 "Jelly Bean" offering (the Tegra 3 quad-core, 4.7-inch display One X+, which also packs LTE support).

_{The HTC One X+ [Image Source: Anandtech]}

HTC in many ways has been among the most aggressive players in the industry in terms of pursuing tangible hardware-level differentiation in its handsets. Recent models include special image processing hardware that allow them to take photos from a stream of video. Many models also carry special amplifier chips from subsidiary Beats Audio, allowing them to produce better sound quality.

It remains to be seen whether the new devices and special hardware is sufficient to lure the fickle consumer electronics market. Another quarter has come and gone, and HTC is left still trying to recapture the magic that allowed it to grow wildly from a company who made other companies' smartphones, to a first-party devicemaker and household brand name.

Source: HTC [via Engadget]

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RE: I'm shocked

By RealTheXev on 10/8/2012 12:13:09 PM , Rating: 3

I have no clue when the last time HTC advertised on national TV. I'm praying that HTC goes all in with Verizon on the 8 series phones with Windows Phone 8.

I agree with other users that some of the Touch Pro series of keyboard phones had cable issues, and this HTC 7 Pro I got off eBay recently has a broken hinge piece issue that my buddies Arrive also has..

My primary phone for the last year has been then HTC Trophy on Verizon, and I love this thing to death. Sure, I bought a case for it that turns it into a tank, but as far as updates are concerned, ever since 8107 Mango hit, we on Verizon have gotten every WP7 update on the day it hit all other carriers/GSM euro models, and that includes driver updates to the phone as well.

Meanwhile Sprint users got shafted with Arrive, and Sprint is staying away from Windows 8 phones completely.

While I'm disappointed that the Nokia 920 will be exclusively on the evil blue network, this will force my hand if the 8 series Windows Phones are on Verizon, as Samsungs outdated metal business phone design reminds me too much of the dreaded HTC Arrive.

All you people off in Droid land.. I really could care less about you since HTCs support of Windows Phone has been top notch, and my experience with my Trophy has made me likely to at least look at HTC in the future.

If I based my opinion on my crap HTC Droid Eris, I'd prob have the same opinion as the rest of you though. Lol

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RE: I'm shocked

By anactoraaron on 10/8/2012 5:00:44 PM , Rating: 2

quote:
I have no clue when the last time HTC advertised on national TV.

I know no one in their right mind pays attention to commercials, but you obviously don't watch that much TV or don't pay attention to the commercials at all. They are teamed up with AT&T right now (quite for some time actually) and have been advertising the One X.

If I have to see that damn goat kicking that guy's pack off the cliff one more time...

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