High Tech Computer Corp (HTC, 宏達電) said yesterday that the launch of Apple Inc's iPhone would be a catalyst, rather than a threat, for the faster uptake of phones compatible with high-speed Internet links and using strong computing functions.
The world's biggest maker of handsets powered by Microsoft Corp's operating system made the comments amid market speculation that iPhone would whittle away at the market share of HTC's new product, Touch.
`boon'
"We think the sale of iPhone will boost growth of the [smartphone] market, which will be a boon to everyone [in the industry]," HTC spokesman Cheng Hui-ming (鄭慧明) said yesterday.
HTC shares were up yesterday at NT$561, ending seven straight losing sessions since June 22, a week prior to the sale of iPhone.
"Shipments of HTC Touch may fall short of company expectations in June as channels in Europe await the impact of the launch of the iPhone," said Vincent Chen (
HTC projected it would sell 300,000 units of Touch per month starting in the next quarter.
concerns
Some analysts have expressed concerns that Touch could lose to iPhone as the HTC phone would be less attractive for most mobile phone users. Its lack of multi-touch technology to switch between different functions could affect sales, Chen said.
"For the moment, sales have been quite good," Cheng said, refuting speculation that supply constraints in key components would limit smartphone shipments.
HTC will retain its lead in the current quarter, Cheng said. HTC told investors in April that quarterly revenues would be up 5 percent year-on-year and 15 percent from the first quarter.
Long before the launch of Touch, local industry analysts had been comparing
Touch with iPhone, as both are equipped with a touch panel that replaces the
standard keypad and are 2.5-generation and Wi-Fi wireless Internet
connection-compatible.
To prevent Touch from directly competing with iPhone in the US market, HTC
rolled out the phone early last month in Europe, HTC's biggest market. The
US will be the last market in which it introduces the product.
Goldman Sachs Group Inc said shoppers may have bought as many as 700,000
iPhones in the product's opening weekend, double the broker's earlier
projections, while iSuppli estimated Apple will probably sell 4.5 million
iPhones this year and more than 30 million units by 2011.
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