HTC Corp’s (宏達電) flagship One M8 smartphone is facing strong demand following an initial launch in several Asian countries that exceeded supplies, a company executive said yesterday.
The initial sales of the M8 have outperformed that of the HTC One in the same period of last year, giving the Taiwanese company more confidence that its second-quarter sales will be higher than expected, said Jack Tong (董俊良), head of China operations and president of HTC North Asia.
The Taoyuan-based HTC is betting on its new flagship phone and its revamped mid-tier handsets to boost sales, starting in the second quarter of this year.
The company intends to launch the M8 in more countries around the region from the middle of this month, including Vietnam and Japan, Tong told a media briefing.
Asked about domestic sales, Tong said that HTC did well last month in the high-end market, thanks to the strong consumer demand for the M8, the HTC One and the HTC Butterfly S models.
Tong said that the company’s sales last month could be as good as they were for the same month last year.
According to data from local research firms, HTC held about 30 percent of Taiwan’s smartphone revenue in April last year, making it the top vendor for the month.
However, its market share in the US slid in the first quarter to the lowest point since the middle of 2012, with the company ranking fifth with a 5.4 percent share, compared with 12 percent in the third quarter of 2012 and a third-place position then, research firm comScore Inc said in a report on Friday last week.
Apple Inc maintained its top position in the first quarter, although its market share declined 0.4 percentage points to 41.4 percent, while South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co was in second place with a 0.9 percentage point share increase to 27 percent.
LG Electronics Inc also increased its US market share in the first quarter, rising 0.1 percentage points to 6.7 percent and ranking third.
In fourth place was Motorola Mobility Holdings Inc, which dropped 0.3 percentage points to 6.4 percent, according to comScore’s latest survey.
Shares in HTC closed up 7 percent at NT$169 yesterday in Taipei trading, the highest level for nearly 10 months.
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