HTC Corp (宏達電) yesterday said that its losses shrank last quarter, adding that it is upbeat about its new virtual reality (VR) and smartphone businesses this quarter in light of seasonally high demand for Christmas.
“We are happy with the sales [momentum] last quarter and this quarter. We are expecting to see a good seasonal demand during Christmas,” HTC president of smartphone and connected devices business Chang Chia-lin (張嘉臨) told a teleconference.
The company expects the HTC Vive’s momentum to extend into this quarter, while continuing to expand the VR device’s ecosystem and partnership in the industry, Chang said.
“I cannot disclose the actual shipments of Vive, but I can say the number is much higher than the 140,000 units as some news reports said,” he said.
Chang said HTC has been cutting down the product lines for some of its entry-level smartphone models over the past few quarters as part of the company’s restructuring plan.
HTC will continue to reduce the number of smartphone models and shift the focus to higher-priced handsets, Chang said.
“The number of smartphone models next year will be fewer than this year,” he said.
NOT ABANDONING
Chang said that does not mean HTC would reduce its resources for the smartphone business.
He said HTC will not put less effort into its smartphone or Internet of Things (IoT) businesses, because it believes the two segments will play important roles in the company’s long-term growth.
Chang’s comments came after HTC reported a less-than-expected net loss for last quarter at NT$1.8 billion (US$56.94 million).
The losses last quarter were smaller than the previous quarter’s losses of NT$3.1 billion and NT$4.5 billion a year earlier, company data showed.
That beat Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co’s (元大投顧) estimate of NT$2.58 billion net losses and HSBC Securities Taiwan Corp’s forecast of NT$2.63 billion net losses.
Gross margin increased by 4.7 percentage points quarterly to 16.1 percent last quarter, while the company’s operating losses last quarter improved from the previous quarter’s minus-22.5 percent to minus-9 percent, the data showed.
HTC attributed the improving financial results to the sales momentum for the HTC Vive systems across consumer and enterprise markets.
LOWER COSTS
The increasing demand for its primary smartphones, as well as the firm’s continued efforts in lowering operational costs, also helped shrink its net losses last quarter, Chang said.
The smartphone business “almost” reached the break-even level, Chang added.
HTC shares fell by 2.65 percent to NT$91.9 in Taipei trading yesterday, underperforming the TAIEX, which gained 0.68 percent.
DIVIDED VIEWS: Although the Fed agreed on holding rates steady, some officials see no rate cuts for this year, while 10 policymakers foresee two or more cuts There are a lot of unknowns about the outlook for the economy and interest rates, but US Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell signaled at least one thing seems certain: Higher prices are coming. Fed policymakers voted unanimously to hold interest rates steady at a range of 4.25 percent to 4.50 percent for a fourth straight meeting on Wednesday, as they await clarity on whether tariffs would leave a one-time or more lasting mark on inflation. Powell said it is still unclear how much of the bill would fall on the shoulders of consumers, but he expects to learn more about tariffs
NOT JUSTIFIED: The bank’s governor said there would only be a rate cut if inflation falls below 1.5% and economic conditions deteriorate, which have not been detected The central bank yesterday kept its key interest rates unchanged for a fifth consecutive quarter, aligning with market expectations, while slightly lowering its inflation outlook amid signs of cooling price pressures. The move came after the US Federal Reserve held rates steady overnight, despite pressure from US President Donald Trump to cut borrowing costs. Central bank board members unanimously voted to maintain the discount rate at 2 percent, the secured loan rate at 2.375 percent and the overnight lending rate at 4.25 percent. “We consider the policy decision appropriate, although it suggests tightening leaning after factoring in slackening inflation and stable GDP growth,”
Meta Platforms Inc offered US$100 million bonuses to OpenAI employees in an unsuccessful bid to poach the ChatGPT maker’s talent and strengthen its own generative artificial intelligence (AI) teams, OpenAI CEO Sam Altman has said. Facebook’s parent company — a competitor of OpenAI — also offered “giant” annual salaries exceeding US$100 million to OpenAI staffers, Altman said in an interview on the Uncapped with Jack Altman podcast released on Tuesday. “It is crazy,” Sam Altman told his brother Jack in the interview. “I’m really happy that at least so far none of our best people have decided to take them
Greek tourism student Katerina quit within a month of starting work at a five-star hotel in Halkidiki, one of the country’s top destinations, because she said conditions were so dire. Beyond the bad pay, the 22-year-old said that her working and living conditions were “miserable and unacceptable.” Millions holiday in Greece every year, but its vital tourism industry is finding it harder and harder to recruit Greeks to look after them. “I was asked to work in any department of the hotel where there was a need, from service to cleaning,” said Katerina, a tourism and marketing student, who would
RSS