HTC's Tough Q1 2013 ...
Squeezed by Samsung on the high end and Huaweii, ZTE, and a host of other Android OEM/ODMs in the mid-range.
>> HTC Releases Unaudited Results for 1Q 2013
HTC Earnings Press Release
Taoyuan, Taiwan
April 8, 2013
htc.com
HTC Corporation (TWSE: 2498), a global leader in mobile innovation and design, today announces unaudited consolidated results for 1Q 2013. For the first quarter of 2013, total revenues reached NT$42.8 billion [$1.42 billion USD¹]. Unaudited operating income was NT$43 million [$1.4 million USD¹], net income before tax was NT$103 million [$3.36 million USD¹], net income after tax was NT$85 [$2.77 million USD¹] million, and unaudited earnings per share after tax were NT$0.10 [$0.003¹] based on 831,227 thousand weighted average number of shares. ... ###
¹ Bracketed currency conversion at March 31 Interbank rate using Oanda FX
>> HTC posts record-low quarterly profit after delayed phone launch
Clare Jim (Taipei)
Reuters
April 8, 2013
reuters.com
HTC Corp reported a record-low quarterly profit on Monday that missed analysts' estimates after it delayed the full launch of its 2013 flagship smartphone model, which will now debut against Samsung Electronics' newest Galaxy.
A shortage of cameras meant HTC managed to introduce its latest HTC One phone in just three markets by the end of the first quarter instead of the planned 80. It does not expect to kick off sales across Europe, North America and the Asia-Pacific region before the end of April.
Samsung Electronics Co Ltd has said its Galaxy S4 will be available in 155 countries by the end of April.
HTC said its unaudited net profit was T$85 million ($2.85 million) in its January-March first quarter, compared with T$1 billion in the prior quarter and T$10.9 billion in the same period last year. It was the lowest since HTC began reporting quarterly profits in 2004.
The Taiwanese smartphone maker was expected to post a net profit of T$467.5 million, according to the average forecast of 18 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters I/B/E/S.
First-quarter revenue was T$42.8 billion, lower than the T$50-60 billion range that HTC had forecast in February. Revenue in the fourth quarter was T$60 billion.
"As HTC failed to establish its brand image by selling its most important flagship phone on time, it'll be very difficult to push on the mid- and low-end phones when HTC launches them in Q3-Q4," said Dennis Chan, an analyst with Yuanta Securities in Taipei. "Sales in the second quarter will bounce, but they will lose momentum again in Q3-Q4."
The company has partnered with Facebook Inc, which unveiled new software last week called "Home" that replaces the home screen on some Android smartphones, and introduced a $100 HTC-made handset that is pre-installed with the new app.
"The Facebook phone is not enough to turn HTC around," said Daiwa analyst Birdy Lu, speaking before HTC's results were released. "Facebook Home could be only good for Facebook addicts, and the distribution channel for HTC First is very limited. HTC's 2013 performance is still highly dependant on HTC One."
HTC was the world's 10th-biggest smartphone maker by shipments in the fourth quarter, according to IT research firm Gartner, jostling in a crowded field behind the top-two heavyweights Samsung and Apple Inc.
Shares of HTC have lost more than half of their value in the past 12 months, underperforming a slight rise in Taiwan's main TAIEX index. On Monday, HTC shares closed down 2.2 percent before the earnings were released, compared with a 2.4 percent fall in the main index. ###
>> HTC Posts Record-Low Profit After Latest Smartphone Delayed
Tim Culpan (Taipei)
Bloomberg Businessweek
April 08, 2013
businessweek.com
HTC Corp. (2498) (2498), Taiwan’s largest smartphone maker, posted its lowest quarterly profit on record after the delay of its newest flagship phone caused revenue to miss the company’s target.
First-quarter net income plunged 98 percent to NT$85 million ($2.8 million), the sixth straight decline, according to data released by the Taoyuan, Taiwan-based company today. The average of 19 analysts’ estimates compiled by Bloomberg was for profit of NT$600 million.
HTC lost early momentum for its HTC One handset in February as a shortage of camera components forced it to delay shipments in key markets by as much as a month. Prospects for revenue to rebound this quarter may be limited as the new device becomes widely available less than a month before Samsung Electronics Co.’s new Galaxy S4, which goes on sale in the U.S. on April 26.
“These numbers show the production shortage really is that bad, and my sense is that it won’t get much better in the second quarter because many of those issues continue,” said Dennis Chan, an analyst at Yuanta Securities Co. in Taipei, who recommends selling the stock. “For smartphones, timing is everything and the delay means they lose that timing.”
First-quarter revenue fell 37 percent from a year earlier to NT$42.8 billion, according to data compiled by Bloomberg. That’s less than the NT$54.7 billion average of 19 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg.
Operating Profit
Operating profit, or income from its core business of making and selling mobile devices, fell 99 percent to NT$43 million. Operating margin was 0.1 percent, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, missing HTC’s forecast for 0.5 percent to 1 percent.
Chief Executive Officer Peter Chou is betting on HTC One to revive fortunes at a company that’s lost more than 70 percent of its market value since a peak two years ago. Only three of 33 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg recommend buying the stock, while 20 recommend selling it.
Delay in shipments of the HTC One was caused by less-than- expected manufacturing capacity for the device’s camera, Benjamin Ho, the company’s marketing chief, said March 25. Production volume for the components will continue to rise through to the end of April, Ho said at the time.
Facebook’s Home
Resolution of those production problems and Facebook Inc.’s introduction last week of HTC First, a handset which debuts its Home software that features the social networking site on the device’s home screen, provides an opportunity for revenue to climb this quarter.
Ho, who was appointed in January, said last month he plans to boost spending and refresh the brand, after its global market standing dropped. Successive versions of Apple Inc.’s iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy, and growing competition from ZTE Corp. (000063) and Huawei Technologies Co. cut its share of smartphone shipments to 3.1 percent in the fourth quarter, from 10.3 percent in the third quarter of 2011, according to Bloomberg Industries.
HTC dropped 2.2 percent to NT$241 at the close of trade in Taipei today before the earnings announcement, taking its decline this year to 20 percent and trailing the benchmark Taiex (TWSE) index’s 0.7 percent advance.
Founded in 1997, HTC hasn’t posted a loss since it listed in March 2002. Two of 19 analysts surveyed by Bloomberg before today’s earnings announcement forecast a net loss for the first quarter. ###
- Eric - |
