Taiwanese handset maker HTC Corp (宏達電) is optimistic about new smart devices it unveiled in Barcelona on Sunday, but analysts were downbeat on sales of those products this year, citing a lack of significant upgrades in the company’s new flagship model.
The company introduced its latest One M9 flagship smartphone and two non-smartphone products — the Grip professional fitness tracker wristband and the Vive virtual reality headset — at the Mobile World Congress in Spain.
The latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 processor powers the One M9, HTC said in a statement. The handset has a 20-megapixel rear camera with a sapphire cover lens and can capture ultra-high-definition (4K ) video, it added.
Photo: Bloomberg
The GPS-enabled Grip is its first wearable device to be developed with strategic partner Under Armour Inc — a US sports clothing and accessories supplier, HTC said. The water-resistant wristband has a 100mAh battery that can least for two and a half days.
The virtual reality HTC Vive headset enables 360? views and has a tracking system that will allow users to walk around in virtual worlds, the company said.
HTC chairwoman Cher Wang (王雪紅) expressed high hopes for the HTC Vive headset — developed with strategic partner US-based video game developer Valve.
At an investors’ conference last month, HTC chief financial officer Chang Chia-lin (張嘉臨) said the company expects revenue from its non-smartphone segment to grow significantly this year and make material contributions beginning next year and beyond.
However, the One M9 is “the world’s most beautiful disappointment,” Yuanta Securities Investment and Consulting Co (元大投顧) — quoting US technology Web site the Verge — said.
The M9 is hard to distinguish from the M8, as the new model has the same 5-inch full-HD 1080p display and BoomSound speaker the M8 did, a Yuanta analyst who declined to be named told the Taipei Times.
“I believe the market’s reactions to the M9 are reflected in HTC’s share price, which fell 2.61 percent to NT$149 in Taipei trading on Friday last week,” the analyst said.
HTC usually unveils new flagship models in March and the product is expected to boost sales in the second quarter of the year, but given its similarities to the M8, the analyst expects HTC’s revenue growth next quarter to be weaker than the market consensus.
“I expect HTC’s revenue to grow less than 47 percent next quarter from this quarter’s estimated NT$44 billion (US$1.4 billion),” the analyst said.
The consensus estimate is 50 percent, according to Yuanta.
The new flagship device is to be available beginning in the middle of this month, and the Grip is to go on sale later in the spring, the firm said.
The HTC Vive Developer Edition is being launched before the summer as well, HTC said, adding that the consumer edition is to be available by the end of this year.
Separately, the firm yesterday reported sales of NT$9.22 billion for last month, down 24.85 percent from January’s NT$12.27 billion.
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