By It looks like the HTC One delay put the Taiwanese manufacturer in a tough spot in regards to its Q1’2013 earnings numbers as the company has posted record lows for the quarter. According to the latest report from Taoyuan, HTC only gained about $2.8 million last quarter. It’s still a profit, but it’s HTC’s lowest in years and it’s the sixth-straight quarter this company has gone in the wrong direction.
The HTC One was originally scheduled to be released early March according to previous rumors, but the OEM missed its mark when it faced component shortages (namely the Ultrapixel camera that is being heralded). While some pre-orderers have already received the device in European markets, retailers are having a hard time fulfilling orders in a timely manner. Clove UK’s stock has been backordered to about two weeks last we heard, with the black version of the device not even available for a couple of days from now.
Couple those issues with the fact that major North American markets have yet to see a release (pre-sales are commencing as we speak) and you can see why things have been tough for HTC so far in 2013. HTC has a chance to right the ship in Q2, but the impact of the full-scale launch of the HTC One might not yield as big of a return as if it launched on time. HTC’s delays gave Samsung a chance to retaliate last month when it revealed the Samsung Galaxy S4, and with a huge grasp on mind and market share the South Korean manufacturer might be able to steal a significant amount of sales.
HTC will also look to rely on the HTC First, the first smartphone which will feature Facebook Home. It was announced and shown off at Facebook Home’s unveiling last week, and while the phone is a big departure from HTC’s normal Sense-centric affair its banner as a “Facebook phone” might help capture interest. We have a feeling HTC is more focused on getting the HTC One train rolling a bit faster than it is, though, so we’ll keep our microscope focused on that throughout the next couple of months.
[via Bloomberg]
They keep building phones that consumers don’t want, with no expandable storage and small non replaceable battery … the form over function approach doesn’t seem to be paying off.
There’s a flaw in your logic there. If consumers don’t want phones with no expandable storage and non replaceable batteries, then why does the iPhone have such a significant share of the market?
The market is there (whether it’s a want or a don’t care). The question that should be asked is whether or not the market for such phones is large enough for both Apple and HTC.
Why does iphone have such significant market share?
1) They were first to market with this type of device
2) Extracting a customer from the apple ecosystem is like extracting an addict from an opium den
Why is HTC targeting the most difficult market to reach instead of catering to the Android market where they could easily compete with Samsung if they would just start paying attention to what Android customers want in a high end device?
HTC’s problem isn’t removable storage or batteries. It’s consistency, support, and marketing. How many phones did they release last year, and each with different design patterns. Marketing was not very prevalent and also not very consistent. And HTC still struggles to support the handsets they release.
If they want to have a winning year they need to listen to themselves (or Moto execs). Fewer phones with consistent branding and marketing and better support.
Well said. This has been Samsung’s approach the last couple of years. Brand Awareness. Many people were very negative about them making little to no change to the Galaxy S, but consumers do recognize their brand.
Thank you. This is true. I remember when the S3 was coming out and our little filming crew member was all like, we can film this with the GS3 camera. It has HD. I was like because my GS2 doesn’t record in 1080p 30FPS, right?
Samsung got their device out there and made it known.
I agree. Personally I hate the look of the SGS4, but it would be stupid for them to change it. They had a home run phone last year and have created a unique and identifiable device. They are making the right business move to release a phone that looks the same.
This. If you were to put the HTC Hero, One X, One V and One side by side you might not be able to tell they were all made by the same company. At least with apple or Samsung products you can easily tell who made it.
Throw in a Droid Incredible 4G LTE and it gets even more confusing.
And correct me if I’m wrong, but hasn’t HTC had a less than stellar history when it comes to rolling out updates in a timely manner?
amen to that! And that is the sole reason i will never buy another HTC….ever
So true. And I’ll add that they made mistakes by releasing lots of phones without really care about them. Phones like the HTC sensation, the HtC thunderbolt or the hTC Evo 3D has left a bad taste in some consumers mouths. They had terrible battery life and didn’t perform the best. So now ( especially in the eyes of the general consumers) people see HTC phone with crappy battery life and lag. Each phone they release needs to be good. I mean its the same HTC that said that they put design before battery life… That’s unacceptable, there shouldn’t be a problem doing both.
HTC still has the smallest batteries in the pack btw, but at least they took a big step up this year.
They did and they deserve credit. But the HTC One has a tough fight ahead. It’s an amazing phone but unfortunately it has to overcome the failures of the HTC sensation and One X and it is competing with two huge companies.
Correction. They keep building phones that a portion of people who slightly mend the profit line don’t want.
If Samsung didn’t make a phone with removable storage, they would see a difference in their profit, but they’d still be making money. Samsung is just trying to tailor to as many people as possible. HTC is targeting less.
That portion of people isn’t that great to target. That’s why they’re not focusing on that. Sheesh. Now get that out my face. I STILL don’t know why people want removable battery. There reason is ALWAYS so they can change it when it dies. Because battery chargers just don’t exist. -_-
Battery chargers do exist. But when your phone is plugged in you either just let it sit there or you sit nearby so you can keep using it while it charges. At least with a removable battery you can switch out and keep going.
Swapping batteries keeps you from being tethered to a wall or having to be careful with your battery usage. I had a battery charger for my gnex and now for my s3. It is very nice not to have to plug in my phone
I’ll say it again, remove Peter Chou from his position and replace him with someone who knows what the hell they are doing, If not, then HTC is going to wind up where the Titanic is right now. Sad but true. As an investor, I would have sold all my shares in that company and hauled ass by now. I would have most likely put that money into Motorola or Samsung stocks, if not i would just leave that market alone. HTC shares are crap right now and it is all that fool Peter Chous fault. Cheers! I have more money to make!
They have the most positively reviewed android or smartphone since the original iPhone, hopefully their mistakes are in the past because this phone just embarrasses all other phones out there including iPhone and Lumia’s and Samsung.
Here comes the people who are professionals in economics, and all of them hate HTC….
Ugly, retarded looking fool, you should be elsewhere trolling around holding your baby penis. We have enough sarcastic fools here as is.
I would agree, this guy is a pain in the arse.
LOL!
On a scale of 1 to North Korea, how pathetic and stupid are you?
You do know my profile picture is Lebron James right? …
u sir r a small minded fool, n how would u know he has a baby penis??? perhaps a fetish of yours???
so what you’re saying is you’ve seen his penis?
I was stuck from choosing from the Galaxy S4 and the One but now thinking to choosing the One to support HTC. We need HTC because competition is good. I’d hate to see HTC gone.
I was just going to get it because I like it. It tailors to my needs in what I want in a phone. Loud speakers. =.P
The latest phones from HTC is wp8 phones.
They must have failed. flopped
my roomate’s sister makes $67 hourly on the computer. She has been fired for 8 months but last month her paycheck was $12642 just working on the computer for a few hours. Read more on Fab99.com
Competition. Yes.
But… If the One suits you, buy it. Don’t buy it out of pity for the underdog, or you may be short-changing yourself.
HTC needs to, and will, fail or succeed of it’s own accord. I’m not happy about it but I think HTC will sink further. Perhaps if Peter Chou is replaced, SDCards and removable batteries will come back, HTC will design and sell fewer device variants, and to all US carriers, and will return to supporting older devices longer, and keeping promises and maybe HTC will come back. Eventually.
I don’t know why they messed with the button order. I know all the function is still there, but they literally bastardized it for no reason whatsoever. That, and the mediocre camera performance will keep me from buying this phone. HTC also hasn’t been very good to the dev community. It’s a shame, I want to love it but I just can’t.
Have you seen the camera comparisons with the software patch?
I haven’t actually, I was just going by the comparisons done by GSM arena. I could have lived with the camera anyways, it’s the buttons that tick me off. That, and it will probably never work properly with Cyanogenmod due to HTC not releasing proper sources for the camera driver. I’m not saying it’s a bad phone, because it looks like an amazing phone. I’m just saying it’s not for me.
HTC is circling the drain. As a Rezound owner, I know how it feels to have been forsaken by HTC. They are all over the map with their design and marketing approach. This is a company that is scrambling to remain relevant, and it isn’t working. The One is a beautiful phone, but I’m afraid it will prove to have the sam achilles heel that every HTC 4G phone has…an inadequate battery. I loved my Incredible, and after two replacement phones have learned to sorta love my Rezound (with it’s massive extended battery curves). My upgrade date is in August and I highly doubt that I’ll be able to justify staying with HTC.
How can the One play a role in HTC’s Q1 profits, when it’s coming out at the END of April, another words the beginning or so of the 2nd qtr.
Nobody has answered my question, the headline mentions the HTC One, which came out in the beginning of Q2, but says the HTC One has something to do with HTC’s Q1 results.
Umm. People not buying the older OneX, OneX+ etc, waiting for the new One ?
Best I can figure; don’t know if the waiting for a new flagship effect applies to HTC as much as Apple or Samsung.
The delay’s in getting the One to customers is frustrating as hell.
I’ve seen several adverts for the one, yet I cant get hold of one sim free…
Had it on back order since the the 20th March now. Would love to give HTC my money, damn component shortages. Oh well hopefully only another couple of weeks.