HTC Corp (宏達電), the manufacturer of the world’s first phone running Google’s Android system, yesterday posted a 31 percent decline in revenues for the fourth quarter amid rising operating costs.
Last quarter’s net income dropped to NT$5.58 billion (US$175 million), compared with a revised profit of NT$8.09 billion a year earlier, HTC said in a statement. That figure also represented a 2 percent drop quarter-on-quarter.
Revenues dropped 13 percent to NT$41.08 billion in the fourth quarter, from NT$47.38 billion a year ago, meeting the company’s earlier forecast of between NT$40 billion and NT$42 billion.
PHOTO: BLOOMBERG
For the whole year, net profit shrank 21 percent to NT$22.65 billion from NT$28.64 billion in 2008. Revenue fell 5 percent to NT$144.88 billion from NT$152.56 billion in the previous year, said HTC, which is scheduled to give its quarterly outlook during a teleconference with investors on Jan. 26.
“HTC released better-than-expected revenues, but its earnings do not match the pace. This means that the company may spend more on marketing its branded phones than it disclosed,” Lu Chia-lin (呂家霖), who tracks the handset industry for Macquarie Securities, said by telephone yesterday.
In November, Taoyuan-based HTC said it would allocate a bigger share of its revenues — as much as 17.5 percent — to promote its smartphones amid growing competition, compared with 14 percent in the third quarter last year and 11.5 percent in the final quarter of 2008.
New orders from Google Inc and US telecoms operator Verizon Wireless could be the major driving force behind HTC’s strong sales last month, Lu said.
“HTC has began shipping Nexus One to Google last month. We believe the partnership will have a positive impact on HTC, as the gross margin is not bad,” Lu said.
HTC could ship about 2 million Nexus One phones to Google this year as the online search giant seeks to boost sales through a new online shopping service.
Citigroup analyst Kevin Chang (張凱偉), however, was more cautious about Google’s move in the handset sector.
It would be “impossible for HTC to make 30 percent gross margin” with Nexus One, Chang said in a report yesterday.
HTC financial executive officer Cheng Hui-ming (鄭慧明) told Bloomberg yesterday that the phone would have a profit margin similar to that of HTC’s branded devices.
Google’s new phone could cause a severe blow to HTC’s current models, most of which retail for more than US$550. The Google Nexus One is sold for US$529 without telecoms services, or starting at US$179 with a two-year service contract, Chang said.
Shares of HTC inched up 0.4 percent yesterday to NT$373.5, underperforming the benchmark TAIEX, which gained 1.42 percent.
ELECTRONICS BOOST: A predicted surge in exports would likely be driven by ICT products, exports of which have soared 84.7 percent from a year earlier, DBS said DBS Bank Ltd (星展銀行) yesterday raised its GDP growth forecast for Taiwan this year to 4 percent from 3 percent, citing robust demand for artificial intelligence (AI)-related exports and accelerated shipment activity, which are expected to offset potential headwinds from US tariffs. “Our GDP growth forecast for 2025 is revised up to 4 percent from 3 percent to reflect front-loaded exports and strong AI demand,” Singapore-based DBS senior economist Ma Tieying (馬鐵英) said in an online briefing. Taiwan’s second-quarter performance beat expectations, with GDP growth likely surpassing 5 percent, driven by a 34.1 percent year-on-year increase in exports, Ma said, citing government
UNIFYING OPPOSITION: Numerous companies have registered complaints over the potential levies, bringing together rival automakers in voicing their reservations US President Donald Trump is readying plans for industry-specific tariffs to kick in alongside his country-by-country duties in two weeks, ramping up his push to reshape the US’ standing in the global trading system by penalizing purchases from abroad. Administration officials could release details of Trump’s planned 50 percent duty on copper in the days before they are set to take effect on Friday next week, a person familiar with the matter said. That is the same date Trump’s “reciprocal” levies on products from more than 100 nations are slated to begin. Trump on Tuesday said that he is likely to impose tariffs
HELPING HAND: Approving the sale of H20s could give China the edge it needs to capture market share and become the global standard, a US representative said The US President Donald Trump administration’s decision allowing Nvidia Corp to resume shipments of its H20 artificial intelligence (AI) chips to China risks bolstering Beijing’s military capabilities and expanding its capacity to compete with the US, the head of the US House Select Committee on Strategic Competition Between the United States and the Chinese Communist Party said. “The H20, which is a cost-effective and powerful AI inference chip, far surpasses China’s indigenous capability and would therefore provide a substantial increase to China’s AI development,” committee chairman John Moolenaar, a Michigan Republican, said on Friday in a letter to US Secretary of
‘REMARKABLE SHOWING’: The economy likely grew 5 percent in the first half of the year, although it would likely taper off significantly, TIER economist Gordon Sun said The Taiwan Institute of Economic Research (TIER) yesterday raised Taiwan’s GDP growth forecast for this year to 3.02 percent, citing robust export-driven expansion in the first half that is likely to give way to a notable slowdown later in the year as the front-loading of global shipments fades. The revised projection marks an upward adjustment of 0.11 percentage points from April’s estimate, driven by a surge in exports and corporate inventory buildup ahead of possible US tariff hikes, TIER economist Gordon Sun (孫明德) told a news conference in Taipei. Taiwan’s economy likely grew more than 5 percent in the first six months
RSS