HTC Corp (宏達電), the world’s No. 5 smartphone maker, said last month’s revenue hit a record high for the sixth straight month, thanks to strong smartphone shipments.
Consolidated revenue totaled NT$45.32 billion (US$1.56 billion) last month, up 87.44 percent year-on-year and 0.47 percent month-on-month, the Taoyuan-based company said in a statement.
EXPANDING
Total revenue for the first eight months of the year hit NT$318.99 billion, expanding 115.97 percent from the same period last year, the company said.
In late July, HTC told an investors’ conference that the company expected third-quarter revenue to grow by about 10 percent to NT$137 billion, from the previous quarter’s NT$124.4 billion.
The company’s combined revenue for July and last month reached NT$90.43 billion, which means HTC would have to make NT$46.57 billion in sales this month if it is to achieve its third-quarter revenue predictions.
GROWING DEMAND
The company is forecast to ship 13.5 million phones in the current quarter, up from a record 12.1 million units it shipped in the April-to-June quarter on the back of the launch of new models and growing demand in China, HTC said in late July.
Global smartphone shipments are expected to reach 462 million units this year, up 60 percent from 288 million units last year, Digitimes Research statistics showed yesterday.
Apple Inc is predicted to outrank Nokia Oyj as the No. 1 smartphone vendor this year, seeing its shipments grow 81.89 percent year-on-year to 86.4 million units this year, while Nokia’s shipments will drop 25.82 percent to 74.4 million units, according to an e-mailed statement from Luke Lin (林俊吉), an analyst and project manager at Digitimes Research.
FORECAST
HTC is forecast to ship 49.4 million units this year, up 106.22 percent from a year earlier, Digitimes said.
The company’s shipments follow Samsung Electronics Co’s 67 million units and Research In Motion Ltd’s 55.7 million units, according to the Taipei-based researcher.
COMPETITION
Despite HTC’s record monthly revenue and rising global brand awareness, the Taiwanese company is facing slow demand in Europe and increased competition in the global market during the second half of the year, Goldman Sachs said in a research note on Monday.
Goldman Sachs cut its target price for HTC from NT$1,080 to NT$980, representing a 38.42 percent upside from the stock’s closing price of NT$708 on the Taiwan Stock Exchange yesterday.
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