Report: HTC cutting component orders for Q1 2013
updated 06:02 am EST, Thu December 20, 2012
HTC cutting parts orders, lowering smartphone sales expectations
HTC has cut its component orders for new handsets after revising its sales estimates for Q1 2013, according to Digitimes. Digitimes, which has sources within the Taiwanese supply chain, also reports that HTC may have also taken steps to suspend the development of some new models, prompting the reduction in orders. If accurate, the report gels with HTC’s difficulties in the face of stiff competition from Samsung and Apple in the high-end smartphone market.
HTC had projected an increase in sales of between 20-30 percent but is now expecting a year over year increase of between 10-15 percent. However, sales of its Windows Phone 8 devices are said to be below expectations while the Samsung Galaxy S III and the Apple iPhone 5 have continued to increase, largely at the expense of other players including HTC.
Further, compounding problems for HTC, it is also struggling in the Chinese market where Android smartphones with high-end features are being sold at small margins. White-box vendors are driving HTC to enter into the low-end of the smartphone market in order maintain its volumes. Its One-series of smartphones failed to break Samsung’s stranglehold on the Android market, although its latest handset, the Droid DNA 5-inch quad-core superphone, has been well received.
