HTC Q1 profit plunges 98 percent, despite HTC One launch

From CNET News.com: The HTC One launched too late to save the Taiwanese company's first-quarter results.

Net profit for the handset maker tumbled to NT$85 million ($2.85 million) from NT$4.5 billion ($152 million) a year ago, a drop of 98 percent.

It's the company's lowest quarterly profit since 2004. Revenue plunged too, to NT$42.8 billion from NT$67.8 billion, the company confirmed in Thursday's earnings call.

The company did not reveal how many units of the HTC One it has so far sold, but said it expected revenues to jump in the second quarter to NT$70 billion.

"Last year we thought we needed to inject some new excitement in HTC's products, and there was an opportunity for us... because everybody looks the same," HTC CEO Peter Chou said on the call this morning. "I think that we have successfully launched the HTC One. We believe people are really getting our concept.

"Our goal is really to develop the HTC brand as a trustable, premier and excellent smartphone brand. That kind of brand awareness and preference is so important to us, as different suppliers are coming from everywhere and there's no differentiation," Chou said, referring to the plethora of Android phones available.

CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets analyst CK Cheng estimates that HTC sold 750,000 HTC Ones in April, Barrons reports, and will ship 3.5 million in the second quarter in total. It will sell as many as 10 million before the end of 2013, Cheng believes. That compares to a predicted 60 million units of the Samsung Galaxy S4.

In January Chou said he believed the "worst for HTC has probably passed," a sentiment borne out by the company's stock rising steadily since the announcement of the HTC One.

Analysts including HSBC and Daiwa last week upgraded their ratings of the Taiwanese company, citing the One's strong reviews.

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