HTC misses estimates as One smartphone fails to boost sales

Net income falls to NT$1.25 bn ($42 mn) in the three months ended June

HTC Corp, the Taiwanese smartphone maker, posted second-quarter profit that missed analyst estimates as the release of its flagship One handset failed to reverse a slide in sales. Shares dropped their daily limit.

Net income fell to NT$1.25 billion ($42 million) in the three months ended June, the Taoyuan, Taiwan-based company said July 5. That's down 83 per cent from a year earlier and trails the NT$2.17 billion average of 19 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Taiwan's largest smartphone maker, which has seen its stock slump 80 per cent in the past two years, released the HTC One into the US in April, the same month Samsung Electronics Co put its flagship Galaxy S4 on sale. New marketing plans and executive changes may help the company rebuild its brand after its global ranking fell to ninth behind Chinese handset makers ZTE Corp and Huawei Technologies Co.

The stock dropped 6.9 per cent, the daily limit, to close at NT$189 in Taipei, the lowest since November 2005 and extending losses this year to 37 per cent. Taiwan's benchmark Taiex index lost 1.4 per cent and is up 2.4 per cent for the year. Revenue for the quarter fell to NT$70.7 billion compared with the NT$72.8 billion average of 21 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. The company had forecast sales of about NT$70 billion.

HTC lost the early momentum of unveiling its HTC One in February prior to Samsung's Galaxy S4 as a shortage of camera components forced it to delay shipments.

A smaller version of the flagship will be released this quarter, Bloomberg News reported last month.

HTC fell to ninth in the global smartphone market during the first quarter, with 2.4 per cent share, according to data from Bloomberg Industries and IDC.