HTC Corp (宏達電), the world’s largest maker of handsets running Windows Mobile and Android platforms, yesterday said it expected fourth-quarter revenue to hit a record-high NT$100 billion (US$3.25 billion), up 143 percent year-on-year, amid accelerating demand for smartphones.
“The growth momentum of smartphones is picking up steam in Europe and Asia, and the penetration rate in these two markets is accelerating,” HTC chief financial officer Cheng Hui-ming (鄭慧明) told an investor conference call.
HTC expects gross margin in the fourth quarter to be between 29.5 percent and 30.5 percent, compared with 30.2 percent in the third quarter, while shipments for the quarter were forecast to increase 157 percent from a year ago to 9 million units.
The Taoyuan-based company yesterday also reported that third-quarter net income rose 95 percent from a year ago to a record NT$11.1 billion. Net income was NT$8.64 billion in the second quarter.
Increasing demand for smartphones using Google Inc and Microsoft Corp operating systems drove third-quarter revenue to more than double to NT$75.85 billion, up from NT$33.88 billion a year ago and NT$60.96 billion in the second quarter.
Earnings per share were NT$13.60 last quarter, higher than the NT$7.18 in the same period last year and NT$11.60 in the previous quarter, while gross margin climbed to 22.93 percent, up from 11.17 percent a year ago and 18.13 percent in the second quarter.
HTC shipped 6.8 million phones last quarter, up 143 percent from the same period last year and surpassing its previous record of 5.4 million in the second quarter. The shipments beat its forecast of 6.5 million handsets on July 29.
“We are very confident in our product portfolio,” Cheng said, adding the company planned to accelerate investment and development in China after launching its brand in the summer.
HTC will release several models — including ShuangQing, Desire and TianXi — in the fourth quarter in tandem with Chinese telecoms operators and cover China’s three mobile-technology standards, the company said.
The average selling price of HTC phones was US$342 in the third quarter, up from US$340 in the preceding three months ending June. Its average selling price was US$348 in the third quarter of last year.
In related news, HTC’s board yesterday approved plans to repurchase 10 million of its own shares — 5 million next month and another 5 million in December — for a maximum of NT$8.5 billion.
Shares bought back next month will be distributed to employees as incentives, and those bought back in December will be canceled, the company said in a statement.
HTC also said it would invest up to NT$1.6 billion in an expansion project at its Taoyuan factory to meet growing capacity demand.
HTC shares fell 2.4 percent to close at NT$691 in Taipei trading yesterday, underperforming the benchmark index, which edged down 0.8 percent.
The stock has risen 88.54 percent this year, compared with an 18 percent gain last year.
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