Backed by strong demand for its new smartphones, including Windows 7 models, the world’s No. 5 smartphone maker, HTC Corp (宏達電), yesterday posted a record-high monthly revenue of NT$38.5 billion (US$1.3 billion).
The figure for last month is up 168.4 percent year-on-year and up 18.7 percent from the preceding month, according to company statistics.
Last month’s revenue smashed the record set in October, which saw sales of NT$32.4 billion.
ON TRACK
“HTC is on track to meet its fourth-quarter guidance, driven by solid demand for its Desire HD, Desire Z and Windows Phone 7 models,” said Jeff Pu (蒲得宇), an analyst at Yuanta Securities (元大證券).
HTC forecast in late October that its fourth-quarter revenue would set a record and approach NT$100 billion, which, if achieved, would represent a year-on-year growth of 143 percent.
It also forecast its smartphone shipments in the fourth quarter to expand 157 percent from last year, to 9 million units.
HTC, the world’s largest maker of smartphones running on both Windows and Android platforms, is experiencing a solid year, with shipments and revenue reaching record highs that have driven the company to rank as the world’s No. 5 smartphone maker.
According to Pu, Yuanta’s research indicates flat quarter-on-quarter orders from HTC to its component makers in the first quarter next year. That would translate into a solid first quarter as the firm’s fourth quarter is set to reach a new high in revenue.
“We attribute the strength [in the first quarter] to its solid product cycle and potential new model launches, such as Mecha, Knight and Window Phone 7 models in the US,” he said.
Shipments are expected to decline 7 percent sequentially, to 8.6 million, in the first quarter, he said.
Meanwhile, HTC’s total revenue from January to November rose 88.4 percent to NT$245.7 billion, the firm said.
TABLET PC
However, HTC’s progress in the tablet PC market remains slow.
“We believe HTC is waiting for Honeycomb for a better user experience,” Pu said.
Honeycomb is the codename for the new Android operating system that is expected to be released in the first quarter next year.
HTC is set to hold its “Partner Strategy Summit” on Thursday in Taipei, according to the Chinese-language Commercial Times.
Chances are high that HTC could announce to its component suppliers and retail partners that the firm aims to double next year’s handset shipments to 50 million units, the paper said.
In addition, HTC could announce that its shipment goal for tablet PCs is 5 million units, the paper added.
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