HTC yesterday said sales last month climbed to NT$29 billion (US$971.49 million), the highest level in 11 months, after the company’s flagship HTC One smartphone generated better-than-expected sales since April.
Sales expanded 48.03 percent to NT$29 billion last month from NT$19.59 billion in April, with the combined sales from April and last month totaling NT$48.59 billion.
HTC last month told investors on a conference call that its new HTC One flagship model had been received positively by the market.
With confidence in the new One, HTC said it aims to increase sales this quarter by 63.55 percent to NT$70 billion from NT$42.8 billion in the first quarter of the year.
The Taoyuan-based company’s goal might be achieved if strong sales growth momentum can be sustained throughout this month.
JPMorgan Securities Ltd projected that HTC’s revenue would grow 75 percent sequentially in the second quarter and by between 15 percent and 20 percent in the third and fourth quarters.
“A strong pipeline of flagship model launches and carrier roll-out may fuel HTC’s upcycle for the rest of the year” JPMorgan analyst Alvin Kwock (郭彥麟) said in a note on Monday.
According to JPMorgan, the activation rate of the new HTC One has been rising week by week since it was launched and that retail stores’ inventory of the smartphone appeared lean.
“The One gets sold out from time to time and requires a few days of pre-ordering lead time,” Kwock said.
“Low inventory could ensure benign pricing in third quarter of the year, unlike the inventory write-down situation witnessed back in 2012,” he added.
HTC delayed the US launch of the One with Verizon Wireless late last month.
However, the US company said on Monday that it would soon start selling the phone.
“It’s coming — the HTC One will be available on the Verizon Wireless 4G LTE network later this summer,” it said on Twitter.
No launch date or prices were disclosed.
Together with a new mid-end smartphone model, allegedly named “M4,” and a second-generation flagship smartphone model Butterfly S, sales of the One by Verizon are expected to fuel HTC’s sales next quarter, JPMorgan said.
In addition, HTC may launch a higher-level new One model called the HTC One Max later this year, Kwock said.
Several telecommunication carriers have revealed that they are very interested in the 5.9-inch product with a unibody casing, Kwock added.
JPMorgan retained its rating for HTC’s shares as “overweight” with a target price of NT$390.
HTC’s share closed down 1.03 percent at NT$287.5 yesterday, underperforming the broader market, which dropped 0.12 percent.
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