HTC Q1 2011 profit triples thanks to Android

HTC on Friday said it had a banner first quarter of 2011 after its profit tripled compared to a year ago. Its net profit grew about three times to $513 million. The company declined to say how many phones it had actually shipped, but it had predicted in January that it would deliver 8.5 million devices between then and the end of March.

Much of the gain over the past year could be credited directly to the company's Android line, which in 2010 pushed much further into the high-end and low-end. The company's progress has been helped both by becoming the de facto European source for Android phones like the Desire and Wildfire but also through a strong footprint in the US. Phones like the Droid Incredible on Verizon and Evo 4G on Sprint have often defined the experience in the US.

HTC has the dominant slice of Windows Phone 7 by sheer variants, but it has never said how many it expected to ship. Microsoft has so far refused to say how many phones reached actual customers and has instead talked about sell-through to carriers.

Performance in the spring isn't as definite. HTC will have the advantage of its 2011 Android roadmap reaching Europe and most parts of the world, but only some of its US plans will have come true. Its halo phone in the US, the Thunderbolt, might be outselling the Verizon iPhone in the short term but has yet to show whether it can keep sales in the long term.

Some of its other expected flagships, like the Evo 3D and Droid Incredible 2, either won't be available until late in the spring or won't be ready until the summer.

Apple is likely to ship about twice as many iPhones, owed in part to the Verizon edition, but collectively should be outsold by Android once Motorola, Samsung, and other major Android builders are factored in.

By Electronista Staff

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iPhone, industry, Verizon, htc, sprint, Android, mobile phones, Apple, Windows Phone, Incredible, Desire, Wildfire, Thunderbolt, Evo 3D