HTC announced a drop in net profits for the fifth straight quarter. The quarterly drop in profits fell to the lowest it has been in nearly 7 years. Analysts said that the first quarter during 2013 would also be challenging for the smartphone maker as the competition has greatly intensified across the globe.
The Taiwanese based manufacturer of smartphones first started selling HTC branded phones back in 2006 in the U.S. and at present is the second largest seller of Android devices in the U.S.
Of late however, the company has lost market share for its smartphones, as rivals such as Samsung and Apple have introduced products that have been accepted by consumers more than HTC’s product lines. Global market share for HTC dropped in the third quarter to only 4% from 10.3% during the same quarter 12 months ago.
During the same period, revenue dropped from $3.4 billion a year ago to $2.4 billion as of December 31 of last year. Analysts said part of HTC’s problem for the upcoming quarter is because they introduced a new phone in December known as the Butterfly, but Samsung and Nokia are expected to release new phones in January or February.
HTC has started to rethink its sales strategy due to his continued weakening position in the U.S. and has started to put more focus on other areas of the world.
