HTC Corp (宏達電), the leading maker of smartphones running Microsoft Corp’s Windows Mobile and Google Inc’s Android platforms, is expecting great sales momentum in the fourth quarter, thanks to smartphone rollouts during the Christmas period and a brand-awareness campaign to raise the company’s profile.
Revenues in the current quarter are expected to hit between NT$40 billion (US$1.2 billion) and NT$42 billion, up from NT$34 billion in the third quarter and down from NT$47.4 billion in the same period last year, spokesman Cheng Hui-min (鄭慧明) told an investor teleconference yesterday.
Total shipments of branded smartphones would grow between 5 percent and 6 percent from the same period last year, despite an end to production of contract phones for clients, he said.
The average selling price of HTC smartphones would decline by less than 5 percent over the third quarter, Cheng said. Third quarter prices averaged US$348.
The average price of smartphones has been in steady decline after the introduction of mid-range phones to attract a wider customer base amid intensified competition.
The company maintains its whole-year revenue forecast, which is expected to decline by 5 percent from last year, blaming a slowdown in contract-manufacturing orders and slower-than-expected demand for third-generation handsets in China.
The US market is expected to continue its upward momentum, the company said.
HTC has positioned itself well in the fast-growing US market by increasing shelf space for HTC phones with major carriers ahead of the Christmas season. The company aims to further strengthen partnerships with US carriers next year, Cheng said.
The company’s branding campaign was unveiled in the middle of last month in the US, Europe and Taiwan. It will build long-term brand awareness, he said.
HTC and Research In Motion Ltd, the maker of BlackBerry phones, took a larger share of the worldwide smartphone market in the third quarter, research firm International Data Corp (IDC) said last Thursday.
HTC raised its share to 5.6 percent from 5.1 percent last year, it said.
Global shipments of smartphones, which offer faster Internet access and the ability to download programs, climbed by 4.2 percent to 43.3 million units in the third quarter. Phones that use the Android platform, such as HTC’s Hero, fueled the growth, the researcher said.
HTC shares added 2 percent to close at NT$350 yesterday, before the fourth-quarter expectations were announced.
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