HTC, like RIM and Nokia has now understood the fickle nature of the smartphone market. The Taiwan based company has for the third time in a row, announced a quarterly loss. According to Bloomberg, their 2nd quarter earnings were down to less than 250 million dollars, a 58 percent drop from the previous year. The company has also realized how hard it is to rise back to the top, a rare feat only a few companies have achieved.
The smartphone giant, Samsung, has taken full advantage of this slide, and is now sitting pretty at the top. HTC on the other hand, has definitely seen brighter times. Its dismal performance is partly due to the ongoing patent dispute with Apple. While the companies battled it out in the courtroom, the HTC smartphones were detained by the U.S Customs. The more obvious reason is its inability to come up with a phone that can match the Samsung Galaxy Series or the Apple iPhone Series. HTC was incidentally one of the first Android supporters, and had garnered a strong response at that time.
When their Evo 4G phone released in 2010, it was the most successful Sprint phone ever. HTC followed up this success with the Droid Incredible, and analysts were sure that HTC would carve its name in smartphone history, with its cutting edge releases.
However, as the Samsung smartphone sales gained momentum, HTC found itself pushed to the other end of the spectrum. But hope is not lost for HTC. It’s CEO, Peter Chou has announced that HTC intends to cut their losses and shift their focus to the Asian and European markets. Bloomberg reports suggest that this will also be an uphill task. HTC will face competition with regards to its phone prices. The low end HTC phones lack some functionality that some of the Chinese brands can offer. Still, if their ploy works, sales in China could definitely boost the company’s performance. Samsung has released its sales estimates for the second quarter. If numbers are to be believed, Samsung has set a new record for smartphone sales. It has also experienced an 80 percent boost in net income from the previous year.
Most analysts agree that this sharp rise is largely due to the successful range of Samsung Galaxy range of smartphones. The sales of the Samsung Galaxy SIII alone are expected to reach over 10 million units for July itself. According to Samsung’s CEO, the supply has just not been able to match the demand. Either way, Samsung seems to have consolidated its position for the moment.
