HTC has released unaudited financial results for the first quarter of 2014. In their report, we see that the resurgent Android OEM still has quite a bit of work to do, as they had a net loss of NT$1.88 billion (about $62 million). Revenue was also down a touch to NT$33.12 billion, or just over $1 billion.
This comes off their mildly successful Q4 2013, where HTC posted net earnings of $10.3 million. That was during the height of the HTC One life cycle, and included holiday sales. These recent numbers, while not as kind, fall in a timeframe when HTC was seeing interest focussed elsewhere, and a flagship (the One, 2013 edition) that is a bit long in the tooth.
Their sales slump can be attributed — at least in part — to the One (M8) being freshly released, and discussed ad nauseum for months ahead. The first quarter of this year was one in which HTC saw potential customers sit on their hands, waiting for a new flagship. Now that they have it, HTC’s fortunes (literally) should turn around.
The newest One is a wonderful device, and these results only reflect about a week with it on the books. Come Q2 2014, we expect the numbers to be quite a bit different. Let’s just hope that HTC can build some momentum this time to get them out of the doldrums. The Taiwanese company really needs to get away from any losses if they expect to recapture the energy and spirit they once had in the mobile tech market.
Source: HTC
