HTC Corp (宏達電) yesterday said all HTC devices previously going through inspection at US Customs as ordered by the US International Trade Commission (ITC) have been allowed to enter the US market, according to a statement to the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
An HTC spokeswoman said by telephone that the reason for the release was that the devices’ design complied with the commission’s ruling.
“In the future, HTC products will follow the normal procedure to enter US and fulfill US customers’ needs,” the statement said.
Investors welcomed the news and sent shares of HTC as much as 1.6 percent higher in morning trading to NT$439. However, at the end of trading, the shares dropped 1.85 percent to NT$424 as bargain hunting dragged the TAIEX 1.1 percent lower.
The US Customs investigation dates back to an order by the ITC in December last year. The commission ruled that HTC phones violated one of Apple Inc’s patents acquired in 1999 and that it required HTC to fix the problem by April 19 or all infringing phones would be banned.
The HTC spokeswoman said the company found alternatives to the technologies used in some of its devices that were said to infringe Apple’s patents.
Delays in the availability of HTC One X for AT&T, HTC EVO 4G LTE for Sprint and possibly HTC Amaze 4G devices for T-Mobile customers in the US market had been reported earlier this month due to the inspection procedure at customs.
Despite the faster-than-expected clearance, some US telecoms operators may have concerns about whether HTC shipments can fill their orders in time.
“To operators, they prefer placing orders for the ‘hottest’ phones like the iPhone 4S, as well as models that can maintain a stable supply,” said Kelly Hsieh (謝雨珊), an associate manager at the Taipei-based Topology Research Institute (拓璞產業研究所).
The US Customs review of HTC phones has likely sped up the company’s efforts to shift its dependence from the US market, which is expected to account for 25 percent of HTC’s total sales by the end of this year, compared with nearly 40 percent last year, she said.
Asia is projected to replace the US as HTC’s biggest market this year.
Hsieh predicted that the US import review would cost HTC less than 3 percent of its sales in the second quarter, with the company forecast to post single-digit growth in shipments.
HTC shipped 6.9 million smartphones in the first quarter, with a global market share of 4.8 percent, according to market researcher IDC.
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