HTC Corp (宏達電) yesterday blamed its expanding quarterly losses, which grew to NT$2.6 billion (US$84.18 million) last quarter, on the lack of traction for its new blockchain phone and virtual reality (VR) headsets.
It lost NT$3.1 billion in the third quarter of last year, while it posted losses of NT$2.1 billion for the second quarter of this year.
The smartphone maker has been locked in a spiral of quarterly losses for about three years, except for the first quarter of this year, when it booked net profit of NT$21.1 billion after selling its handset manufacturing team to Alphabet Inc’s Google for US$1.1 billion.
HTC is still struggling to return to the black, although its operating losses narrowed to NT$2.8 billion last quarter.
It posted operating losses of NT$3.4 billion for the second quarter and NT$3.3 billion a year earlier, company data showed.
Its operating margin dipped to minus-68.9 percent last quarter from minus-50.7 percent in the second quarter, compared with minus-20.9 percent in the third quarter of last year.
Its gross margin improved for a second straight quarter to 4.7 percent from 2.7 percent in the second quarter, but was still down from 10 percent in the same period last year.
Revenue plunged to NT$4 billion from NT$6.8 billion in the previous quarter and NT$15.7 billion a year earlier.
HTC said it would continue to invest in research and development as well as on expanding its VR ecosystem.
It launched the mid-range HTC U12 life last month and is to start shipping its first blockchain phone Exodus 1 next month.
HTC is accepting pre-orders for the Exodus 1 in cryptocurrencies only, at the price of 0.15 bitcoins, or 4.78 ethers.
Nvidia Corp chief executive officer Jensen Huang (黃仁勳) on Monday introduced the company’s latest supercomputer platform, featuring six new chips made by Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電), saying that it is now “in full production.” “If Vera Rubin is going to be in time for this year, it must be in production by now, and so, today I can tell you that Vera Rubin is in full production,” Huang said during his keynote speech at CES in Las Vegas. The rollout of six concurrent chips for Vera Rubin — the company’s next-generation artificial intelligence (AI) computing platform — marks a strategic
REVENUE PERFORMANCE: Cloud and network products, and electronic components saw strong increases, while smart consumer electronics and computing products fell Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海精密) yesterday posted 26.51 percent quarterly growth in revenue for last quarter to NT$2.6 trillion (US$82.44 billion), the strongest on record for the period and above expectations, but the company forecast a slight revenue dip this quarter due to seasonal factors. On an annual basis, revenue last quarter grew 22.07 percent, the company said. Analysts on average estimated about NT$2.4 trillion increase. Hon Hai, which assembles servers for Nvidia Corp and iPhones for Apple Inc, is expanding its capacity in the US, adding artificial intelligence (AI) server production in Wisconsin and Texas, where it operates established campuses. This
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Garment maker Makalot Industrial Co (聚陽) yesterday reported lower-than-expected fourth-quarter revenue of NT$7.93 billion (US$251.44 million), down 9.48 percent from NT$8.76 billion a year earlier. On a quarterly basis, revenue fell 10.83 percent from NT$8.89 billion, company data showed. The figure was also lower than market expectations of NT$8.05 billion, according to data compiled by Yuanta Securities Investment and Consulting Co (元大投顧), which had projected NT$8.22 billion. Makalot’s revenue this quarter would likely increase by a mid-teens percentage as the industry is entering its high season, Yuanta said. Overall, Makalot’s revenue last year totaled NT$34.43 billion, down 3.08 percent from its record NT$35.52