Beleaguered smartphone maker HTC Corp (宏達電) yesterday reported a year-on-year increase in revenue last month, snapping 13 months of decline, backed by strong demand for its mid-range phones, it said in a filing with the Taiwan Stock Exchange.
HTC reported revenue of NT$555 million (US$19.46 million), up 0.96 percent from a year earlier and 29.3 percent from October, the filing showed.
Despite the improvement, which it attributed to new mid-range handsets and successful online sales promotions, it was still the second-worst November revenue for the Android phone pioneer.
Revenue in the first 11 months of the year totaled NT$5.19 billion, down 44.81 percent from a year earlier.
While the company has shifted its focus to virtual-reality (VR) devices, it released two mid-range handsets that have been well received in the latter half of this year.
In September, it released the HTC U20, the first 5G phone made in Taiwan. Priced at NT$18,900, it is relatively affordable compared with other 5G models.
In October, it launched the 4G HTC Desire 20+. Priced at NT$8,940, it features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 720g processor, four cameras and a 5000mAh battery.
The company took advantage of the Double 11, or Singles’ Day, sales event to promote its smartphone and VR product bundles, which helped boost revenue last month.
HTC on Thursday announced the release of its true wireless earbuds.
Priced at NT$999, the earbuds come equipped with a 400mAh charging case, capable of holding 24 hours of charge.

Mercuries Life Insurance Co (三商美邦人壽) shares surged to a seven-month high this week after local media reported that E.Sun Financial Holding Co (玉山金控) had outbid CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控) in the financially strained insurer’s ongoing sale process. Shares of the mid-sized life insurer climbed 5.8 percent this week to NT$6.72, extending a nearly 18 percent rally over the past month, as investors bet on the likelihood of an impending takeover. The final round of bidding closed on Thursday, marking a critical step in the 32-year-old insurer’s search for a buyer after years of struggling to meet capital adequacy requirements. Local media reports

US sports leagues rushed to get in on the multi-billion US dollar bonanza of legalized betting, but the arrest of an National Basketball Association (NBA) coach and player in two sprawling US federal investigations show the potential cost of partnering with the gambling industry. Portland Trail Blazers coach Chauncey Billups, a former Detroit Pistons star and an NBA Hall of Famer, was arrested for his alleged role in rigged illegal poker games that prosecutors say were tied to Mafia crime families. Miami Heat guard Terry Rozier was charged with manipulating his play for the benefit of bettors and former NBA player and

The DBS Foundation yesterday announced the launch of two flagship programs, “Silver Motion” and “Happier Caregiver, Healthier Seniors,” in partnership with CCILU Ltd, Hondao Senior Citizens’ Welfare Foundation and the Garden of Hope Foundation to help Taiwan face the challenges of a rapidly aging population. The foundation said it would invest S$4.91 million (US$3.8 million) over three years to foster inclusion and resilience in an aging society. “Aging may bring challenges, but it also brings opportunities. With many Asian markets rapidly becoming super-aged, the DBS Foundation is working with a regional ecosystem of like-minded partners across the private, public and people sectors

BREAKTHROUGH TECH: Powertech expects its fan-out PLP system to become mainstream, saying it can offer three-times greater production throughput Chip packaging service provider Powertech Technology Inc (力成科技) plans to more than double its capital expenditures next year to more than NT$40 billion (US$1.31 billion) as demand for its new panel-level packaging (PLP) technology, primarily used in chips for artificial intelligence (AI) applications, has greatly exceeded what it can supply. A significant portion of the budget, about US$1 billion, would be earmarked for fan-out PLP technology, Powertech told investors yesterday. Its heavy investment in fan-out PLP technology over the past 10 years is expected to bear fruit in 2027 after the technology enters volume production, it said, adding that the tech would