HTC reckons it's losing money for the first time ever
Despite the success of the excellent HTC One, HTC reckons it's losing money for the first time.
Brace yourselves, phone fans: despite the success of the HTC One, HTC reckons it's losing money for the first time.
HTC's bottom line for the period between April and June looks less than healthy, with second quarter profits collapsing by 83 per cent compared to last year, the company has revealed.
The company behind the excellent One Android phone made a profit of £26.3m in Q2. But at this rate, when the figures for the current quarter, Q3, are revealed, HTC expects to have lost money for the first time -- and we're not talking a fiver down the back of the sofa money here either, with a loss of between 0 and 8 per cent on around £1bn of revenue.
HTC has just revealed the HTC One Mini, a fun-sized spin-off of the One. That could give the company a boost, but it'll have to go some to undo the damage of the HTC First. The First was a flash-in-the-pan, loaded up with a new Facebook interface and pulled from shelves barely 5 minutes after it went on sale.
HTC was the first company to make a name from Android, but it has now fallen far behind Samsung and its all-encompassing Galaxy range. Samsung is the biggest phone manufacturer in the world, the Samsung Galaxy S4 and Note 8 driving record profits this spring. Apple also recently revealed it had made £4.5bn profit despite falling iPad sales.
What has HTC done wrong -- and how can it turn things around? Tell me your thoughts in the comments or on our Facebook page.