HTC Corp (宏達電), the world’s leading maker of smartphones running on the Windows Mobile and Android platforms, said yesterday it expected record-high revenues of NT$50 billion (US$1.6 billion) in the second quarter on the launch of a series of new phones.
Smartphone sales are expected to grow about 50 percent from last year to 4.5 million units this quarter, HTC said in a statement.
Gross margins will be between 29.5 percent and 30.5 percent, the company said. Gross margins were 30.3 percent in the first quarter.
HTC has launched six models — Desire, Legend, HD Mini, Smart, EVO 4G and Droid Incredible — since last month and intends to debut one or two more this quarter. These models would help boost sales momentum in the second quarter, HTC director of investor relations Joey Cheng (鄭昭義) said.
“The guidance is better than analysts’ estimates,” UBS analyst Arthur Hsieh (謝宗文) said during HTC’s conference call to announce its second-quarter prospects yesterday.
Hsieh raised concerns, however, over HTC’s ability to promote the Smart — its first low-end model — to the mass market, as consumers have remained cool on the phone.
Smart was unveiled early this month, marking HTC’s first smartphone that retails below NT$10,000. It runs on the Brew platform developed by Qualcomm Inc.
The phone targets emerging markets such as India and China, aiming to accelerate the transition from feature phones to smartphones, and it could appeal to general users, given the lower price tag.
“There is a new learning curve for each new platform,” Cheng said, adding that despite the early adoption of Google Inc’s Android by US consumers, Europeans and Asians continued to be more familiar with smartphones running on the Windows platform.
HTC’s first-quarter profits grew 2.5 percent from a year ago to NT$5 billion, amid growing momentum from Europe and Asia.
The company reported a decline of 21 percent for last year’s profits to NT$22.6 billion.
Average selling prices of its smartphones have been declining gradually. Selling prices averaged US$339 during the first three months of the year, compared with US$364 in the same period last year, the company statement said.
Separately, Microsoft Corp said yesterday it has signed a patent agreement with HTC for phones running the Android platform. Under the agreement, Microsoft will receive royalties from HTC.
HTC shares fell 1.1 percent to close at NT$413 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
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