Global smartphone maker HTC Corp (宏達電) said yesterday that it is upbeat about its outlook in the second half of this year, expecting sound growth in revenue, profit and shipment figures.
Peter Chou (周永明), chief executive officer of HTC, said at a shareholder meeting that the company will maintain the momentum it built up with its strong growth in the first half of the year.
“If we hadn’t encountered a component shortage, we would have had an even better performance in April and May,” he said.
HTC registered record monthly revenues for two consecutive months in April and last month, which the company attributed to strong market demand for its high-end mobile phones.
Revenue up
In the first five months of the year, the company registered revenue of NT$74.37 billion (US$2.31 billion), up 34 percent from the same period last year.
Despite the large global smartphone market, Chou said HTC was just like a regional team that “accidentally” entered the top four in a world tournament.
Chou, however, said that HTC remains confident about the company’s ability to keep up with its strongest competitors.
According to Canalys, a global research institute that focuses on smartphones, Nokia retained its worldwide smartphone lead during the first quarter this year, with a market share of 38.8 percent.
RIM held onto second place at 19.2 percent, while Apple reached 15.9 percent.
Market share
HTC has a market share of 5.1 percent and Motorola 4.7 percent.
Chou also said that HTC has made significant progress in branding.
According to the company’s internal evaluation index, HTC’s brand awareness was only 10 percent at the end of last year and rose to about 40 percent at present.
It is expected to reach 60 percent by the end of this year, he said.
Meanwhile, at the shareholders meeting, HTC distributed a dividend of NT$26.5 per share for this year — the highest among all listed companies on the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
The company earned net profits of NT$22.6 billion, or NT$28.71 per share, last year.
Its consolidated revenue was NT$144.5 billion last year, with total cellphone shipments of 11.71 million units and an average price of NT$11,661.
The company also said that 3G wireless products accounted for over 95 percent of its total shipments last year, with a gross profit rate of 31.9 percent.
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