Tech: HTC profits plunge 91% y-o-y; lowest net income in 8 years

RastaMentality

Quote:

TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwanese smartphone company HTC Corp's net profit in the fourth quarter of 2012 missed forecasts and plunged 91 percent year-on-year as its models continued to be outsold by Apple Inc's iPhone and Samsung Electronics Co Ltd's Galaxy range.

The former contract maker has been suffering a sharp decline in its fortunes since the second half of 2011 following a fairytale ride when it built a strong global brand with phones based on Google Inc's Android software.

Unaudited October-December net profit was [B]T$1 billion ($34.48 million), the world's fifth-largest smartphone maker said on Monday, down from T$11.02 billion in the same period a year earlier and T$3.9 billion in the previous quarter. [/B

]The company did not elaborate.

Eighteen analysts forecast a net profit of T$1.47 billion in the quarter, according to a Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S survey.

Fourth-quarter consolidated revenue was T$60 billion. The company said in October it expected its revenue in the quarter to be around T$60 billion, compared to T$70.2 billion in the third quarter.

Analysts said 2013 may not be a turnaround year for HTC as its marketing and brand image lag far behind Apple and Samsung.

"Q1 will be better than Q4 as Q4 was really bad, but full-year speaking, HTC's EPS might not have bottomed in 2012 if its flagship M7 sales disappoint this year," said Birdy Lu, analyst of Daiwa Capital Markets.

HTC is expected to launch a flagship model code-named "M7", in the beginning of this year, according to several analysts citing channel checks. The model could be delayed to after March from February as initially scheduled.

"The new phone could have a first-mover advantage for one to two months before Samsung launches its Galaxy S4 in April, but in the long run, it's difficult to beat Samsung's phones," said Lu.

HTC shares closed up 0.35 percent at T$T$288 before the earnings were released, while the broader market fell 0.65 percent.

Quote:

Fourth-quarter net income was NT$1 billion ($34 million), the Taoyuan, Taiwan-based company said in a statement today. That’s the lowest since 2004 and less than the NT$10.9 billion it posted a year earlier, while being higher than the NT$764 million average of 20 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.

Apple Inc. (AAPL)’s iPhone 5 and new Galaxy models from Samsung Electronics Co. (005930) drew market share away from HTC which lacked new offerings for most of the quarter. Success of its Butterfly handset in Japan and expectations for a new device this quarter, codenamed M7, has driven the stock 48 percent above a seven-year low reached in November.

“There were no strong products for HTC in the fourth quarter, so it will be the bottom of their sales and earnings,” Richard Ko, an analyst at KGI Securities Co. in Taipei who last week upgraded the stock to outperform from underperform, said before the announcement. “New products such as Butterfly should start to have an effect on their results this quarter.”

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-0...nue-drops.html

Doogle

Nearly got an HTC as well. I almost feel bad for not getting one.

Kworb

Aww. I love my little Wildfire.

manwhore

Plays MARIAH "I still believe"

cloudinthesky

HTC

Sad because their phones are actually pretty good especially if you root them. Sense is a damn mess tho.

RastaMentality

Quote:

Originally posted by Doogle

Nearly got an HTC as well. I almost feel bad for not getting one.

I'd wait for their next huge product but Samsung is releasing their S4 soon and the chances of HTC's new phone doing well through that release are slim to none.

JasperX

Butterfly sold fairly well in Taiwan and Japan so.... at least HTC still has something that is selling :/

RastaMentality

Quote:

Originally posted by cloudinthesky

HTC

Sad because their phones are actually pretty good especially if you root them. Sense is a damn mess tho.

Aren't they pretty fast if you do so? I always hear rooting discussions around HTC phones more so than any other Android devices.

Chemist

I have an HTC

RastaMentality

Let's discuss how the SGSIII is single handedly punching every Android phone maker bitch in the building.

cloudinthesky

Quote:

Originally posted by RastaMentality

Aren't they pretty fast if you do so? I always hear rooting discussions around HTC phones more so than any other Android devices.

I haven't owned an HTC since the Evo 4G, but that thing flew after I rooted and started using custom roms. I've been strictly Sammy since then but the ppl I know that have a One X/One S love them. Poor HTC just doesn't have the brand recognition or marketing budget Samsung has

And they need to trash Sense tbh

it wasn't cute back then and its not cute now

Doogle

Quote:

Originally posted by RastaMentality

I'd wait for their next huge product but Samsung is releasing their S4 soon and the chances of HTC's new phone doing well through that release are slim to none.

Yeah I don't see it happening at all. I just got an S3 Mini and it's amazing. The S4 will be even better and I don't think anyone excluding Apple has a chance of competing.

Harajuku

Poor ha

RastaMentality

Quote:

Originally posted by Doogle

Yeah I don't see it happening at all. I just got an S3 Mini and it's amazing. The S4 will be even better and I don't think anyone excluding Apple has a chance of competing.

Samsung has basically no Android competitors. Only Amazon in the tablet field. 2013 is gonna be a ****** year for a lot of them.

RastaMentality

Quote:

HTC has failed to turn its fortunes around in Q4 2012, posting its lowest profit since 2004 — just NT$1 billion ($34.5 million US) net income off NT $60 billion ($2687 billion income). The company's finances were slightly better than analyst expectations, but nonetheless represent a $99 million drop from Q3's already unhealthy $133 million profit, and an enormous $322 million drop year-over-year. The poor results came despite the Taiwanese manufacturer releasing the 5-inch 1080p Droid DNA Android smartphone and a pair of Windows Phone devices, the heavily-marketed flagship8X and budget 8S.CEO Peter Chou believes that "the worst for HTC has probably passed," adding that the company would raise its marketing budget considerably in an effort to better compete with market leader Samsung.

They released new flagship phones and still flopped like hell in the earnings report for the Christmas quarter?

Doogle

The lack of competition for Samsung seriously concerns me when it comes to the future of this technology.

RastaMentality

Quote:

Originally posted by Doogle

The lack of competition for Samsung seriously concerns me when it comes to the future of this technology.

They have Apple. Hence why they launched the "Beat Apple" campaign internally back in 2010.

Doogle

Quote:

Originally posted by RastaMentality

They have Apple. Hence why they launched the "Beat Apple" campaign internally back in 2010.

True, but they are both so determined to completely knock the other one out of business.

stooki3

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Samsung launches its Galaxy S4 in April

Just in time for me to renew my contract

Akil

I'm still waiting on the ICS update for my thunderbolt