HTC, the Taiwan-based smartphone maker whose North American operations are located in the Seattle area, posted weak earnings today driven in part by the delayed launch of the HTC One. The company’s net income fell to $2.8 million, the sixth straight decline and a 98 percent drop, reports Bloomberg.
HTC delayed the launch of its new device over a shortage of camera components.
The company also has been seeing its market share slip to rivals such as Apple and Samsung, both of which saw increases in the three-month period ended February 13th, according to a report out last year by comScore.
HTC is currently taking pre-orders for the HTC One, but now it must compete head-on with the upcoming release of the Samsung Galaxy 4.
“We see the short-term evolution of HTC’s sales under a significant risk of further weakening as the iPhone 5 ramps up and the confrontation between Samsung and Apple continues to monopolize visibility in distribution channels,” said Bernstein Research analyst Pierre Ferragu in a research note. “Lastly, we see structural drivers to HTC’s loss of traction: the company, despite strong product development capabilities and a high-quality brand, is now largely subscale compared to the two industry leaders.”
