The HTC Titan II

HTC, the mobile phone giant with North American headquarters in Bellevue, posted a decline of 70 percent in profits this morning, after one of its top executives acknowledged that the company “dropped the ball” on its products in the fourth quarter.

Here’s the bigger problem: In its competition with Apple, the company is at risk of being an also-ran on both of the alternative mobile platforms where it has placed its bets.

For example, HTC is launching its Titan II Windows Phone on AT&T in the U.S. this weekend — a device with a 16MP camera that generated some decent buzz at the Consumer Electronics Show earlier this year. But in the world of Windows Phone, all of the attention this week has been for the Nokia Lumia 900, launching on the same day, on the same network, for $100 less.

Meanwhile, in the Android world, Samsung this week posted record quarterly profits thanks in part to the reception for the Galaxy Note, the combination smartphone/tablet that comes with a stylus and a 5.3 inch screen.

HTC, an early partner of Microsoft’s previous Windows Mobile, shifted much of its strategic focus to Android and had previously experienced a windfall as a result.

Previously on GeekWire: HTC tries to defrag its Android lineup with new HTC One phones

 

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