HTC is taking it on the chin in terms of sales of its smartphones thanks in part to competition from Apple and Samsung. PCMag.com reports that today HTC announced that its profits were $148 million in the first quarter of 2012, down a whopping 70 percent from the same period a year ago. Revenues for HTC fell by 35 percent for the quarter.
This is the second consecutive quarter in which HTC has seen a significant drop in profits; during the previous quarter, its profits fell by 25%, leading the company to announce plans to drastically reduce its product range, as even its own chief executive, Peter Chou, admitted failings in its strategy. Such changes don't happen overnight, of course, and for now, it remains to be seen whether the new emphasis on fewer but better products will have a positive effect on the company's profitability.
Comscore also announced this week that HTC is now the fifth biggest smartphone maker in the US behind Samsung, LG, Apple, and Motorola. This news comes as HTC just announced the HTC One X, its new and very powerful Android 4.0 smartphone with a Nvidia Tegra 3 multi-core processor inside. Its latest Windows Phone device, the HTC Titan II, is scheduled to launch on Sunday in the US on AT&T.
Meanwhile, Samsung is riding high with some preliminary news on its own financial situation. PCMag.com reports that the company expects its profits to almost double to $5.12 billion for the first quarter, a whopping 96.6 percent increase compared to the same time period a year ago. The final results will be released later in April.
Samsung's sales success with the Galaxy S II smartphone is likely part of the reason for the massive profit jump. The company is expected to officially announce the Galaxy S III in the very near future.
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