As Taiwan smartphone maker HTC (News - Alert) Corp. prepares to roll out four new models later this month at the Barcelona Mobile World Congress, it is also expected to post a much lower-than-expected revenue for the first quarter. It underscores the analysts’ view that it will face another weak quarter and an uphill struggle to prove to investors it still retains its innovative touch, according to a report posted on the International multimedia news agency Reuter’s site.
As per the Reuters (News 
- Alert) report, HTC reported on Monday that the company expects to see a 36 percent drop in revenue in the first quarter which amounts to over TWD $65 billion (US $2.20 billion). In the previous three months, the Taiwanese giant reported revenue of TWD $101.42 billion (US $3.43 billion). However, the company said the difficulties were short term.
According to Reuters reporter Clare Jim, the world's number five smartphone maker’s plan to unveil four new models at the Barcelona Mobile World Congress (News - Alert) will include an ultra-slim type unit, currently codenamed the HTC Ville. It uses advanced quad-core chips, wrote Jim. Powered by latest version of Android (News - Alert), 4.0, media reports show that the HTC Ville will feature a 4.3-inch AMOLED display and offer an 8-megapixel camera.
To regain position in this increasingly competitive marketplace, the analysts think that HTC must offer products that stand out in this marketplace. The company dropped one place in world rankings last quarter, according to Jim’s report.
Speaking to the press before HTC announced its financial results for the quarter, Melissa Chau, Singapore-based research manager for IDC, commented, “It can be turned around. But, the problem remains the same: How are they going to differentiate?"
“Because software, and increasingly hardware, have become commoditized, it is forcing HTC to hunt for new ways to stand out as it scrambles to compete with Apple's (News - Alert) iPhone and Samsung Electronics' Galaxy range,” wrote Jim.
Adding to the disappointing guidance, HTC reported on Monday a 52.6 percent drop in sales in January from a year earlier to TWD $16.62 billion (US $0.56 billion).
Meanwhile, HTC’s chief financial officer Winston Yung told investors during a conference call that he expects margins to normalize in the second quarter to levels seen in the first three quarters last year, wrote Jim.
Ashok Bindra is a veteran writer and editor with more than 25 years of editorial experience covering RF/wireless technologies, semiconductors and power electronics. To read more of his articles, please visit his columnist page.
Edited by Rich Steeves
TMCnet LOGIN
Webinars
