HTC Corp (宏達電), the world’s largest maker of handsets running Windows Mobile and Android platforms, yesterday said it expected fourth-quarter revenue to hit a record-high NT$100 billion (US$3.25 billion), up 143 percent year-on-year, amid accelerating demand for smartphones.
“The growth momentum of smartphones is picking up steam in Europe and Asia, and the penetration rate in these two markets is accelerating,” HTC chief financial officer Cheng Hui-ming (鄭慧明) told an investor conference call.
HTC expects gross margin in the fourth quarter to be between 29.5 percent and 30.5 percent, compared with 30.2 percent in the third quarter, while shipments for the quarter were forecast to increase 157 percent from a year ago to 9 million units.
The Taoyuan-based company yesterday also reported that third-quarter net income rose 95 percent from a year ago to a record NT$11.1 billion. Net income was NT$8.64 billion in the second quarter.
Increasing demand for smartphones using Google Inc and Microsoft Corp operating systems drove third-quarter revenue to more than double to NT$75.85 billion, up from NT$33.88 billion a year ago and NT$60.96 billion in the second quarter.
Earnings per share were NT$13.60 last quarter, higher than the NT$7.18 in the same period last year and NT$11.60 in the previous quarter, while gross margin climbed to 22.93 percent, up from 11.17 percent a year ago and 18.13 percent in the second quarter.
HTC shipped 6.8 million phones last quarter, up 143 percent from the same period last year and surpassing its previous record of 5.4 million in the second quarter. The shipments beat its forecast of 6.5 million handsets on July 29.
“We are very confident in our product portfolio,” Cheng said, adding the company planned to accelerate investment and development in China after launching its brand in the summer.
HTC will release several models — including ShuangQing, Desire and TianXi — in the fourth quarter in tandem with Chinese telecoms operators and cover China’s three mobile-technology standards, the company said.
The average selling price of HTC phones was US$342 in the third quarter, up from US$340 in the preceding three months ending June. Its average selling price was US$348 in the third quarter of last year.
In related news, HTC’s board yesterday approved plans to repurchase 10 million of its own shares — 5 million next month and another 5 million in December — for a maximum of NT$8.5 billion.
Shares bought back next month will be distributed to employees as incentives, and those bought back in December will be canceled, the company said in a statement.
HTC also said it would invest up to NT$1.6 billion in an expansion project at its Taoyuan factory to meet growing capacity demand.
HTC shares fell 2.4 percent to close at NT$691 in Taipei trading yesterday, underperforming the benchmark index, which edged down 0.8 percent.
The stock has risen 88.54 percent this year, compared with an 18 percent gain last year.
China’s economic planning agency yesterday outlined details of measures aimed at boosting the economy, but refrained from major spending initiatives. The piecemeal nature of the plans announced yesterday appeared to disappoint investors who were hoping for bolder moves, and the Shanghai Composite Index gave up a 10 percent initial gain as markets reopened after a weeklong holiday to end 4.59 percent higher, while Hong Kong’s Hang Seng Index dived 9.41 percent. Chinese National Development and Reform Commission Chairman Zheng Shanjie (鄭珊潔) said the government would frontload 100 billion yuan (US$14.2 billion) in spending from the government’s budget for next year in addition
Advanced Micro Devices Inc (AMD) suffered its biggest stock decline in more than a month after the company unveiled new artificial intelligence (AI) chips, but did not provide hoped-for information on customers or financial performance. The stock slid 4 percent to US$164.18 on Thursday, the biggest single-day drop since Sept. 3. Shares of the company remain up 11 percent this year. AMD has emerged as the biggest contender to Nvidia Corp in the lucrative market of AI processors. The company’s latest chips would exceed some capabilities of its rival, AMD chief executive officer Lisa Su (蘇姿丰) said at an event hosted by
AVIATION: Despite production issues in the US, the Taoyuan-based airline expects to receive 24 passenger planes on schedule, while one freight plane is delayed The ongoing strike at Boeing Co has had only a minor impact on China Airlines Ltd (CAL, 中華航空), although the delivery of a new cargo jet might be postponed, CAL chairman Hsieh Su-chien (謝世謙) said on Saturday. The 24 Boeing 787-9 passenger aircraft on order would be delivered on schedule from next year to 2028, while one 777F freight aircraft would be delayed, Hsieh told reporters at a company event. Boeing, which announced a decision on Friday to cut 17,000 jobs — about one-tenth of its workforce — is facing a strike by 33,000 US west coast workers that has halted production
TECH JUGGERNAUT: TSMC shares have more than doubled since ChatGPT’s launch in late 2022, as demand for cutting-edge artificial intelligence chips remains high Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Co (TSMC, 台積電) yesterday posted a better-than-expected 39 percent rise in quarterly revenue, assuaging concerns that artificial intelligence (AI) hardware spending is beginning to taper off. The main chipmaker for Nvidia Corp and Apple Inc reported third-quarter sales of NT$759.69 billion (US$23.6 billion), compared with the average analyst projection of NT$748 billion. For last month alone, TSMC reported revenue jumped 39.6 percent year-on-year to NT$251.87 billion. Taiwan’s largest company is to disclose its full third-quarter earnings on Thursday next week and update its outlook. Hsinchu-based TSMC produces the cutting-edge chips needed to train AI. The company now makes more
RSS