HTC profit soars on 13.2 million handset shipments

From CNET News.com: During the period, HTC generated nearly NT$136 billion ($4.5 billion) in revenue, jumping 79 percent over the same period last year. HTC's after-tax profit hit $624 million, representing a 68 percent gain year-over-year.

According to HTC, which announced its earnings today, it shipped 13.2 million handsets worldwide, up 93 percent year-over-year.

HTC's third-quarter success follows similarly impressive handset-shipment growth from its top competitors, Apple and Samsung. Last week, Samsung announced that its smartphone shipments jumped more than 300 percent compared to the third quarter of 2010. That success helped Samsung nab 23.8 percent of the smartphone space during the period, according to research firm Strategy Analytics. Apple's iPhone captured 14.6 percent of the market.

But market-share figures are just part of the story. Earlier this year, research firm Gartner said that over 296 million smartphones shipped worldwide last year, and it expects that figure to jump to 468 million this year. In 2015, Gartner said that 1.1 billion smartphones will hit store shelves.

That kind of growth should help all three firms--and other smartphone vendors--benefit, regardless of how much market ownership they have now or later.

Looking ahead, HTC expects to capitalize on the continued success of the smartphone market. The company says that in the fourth quarter, it will ship between 12 million and 13 million handsets worldwide, representing 31 percent and 42 percent growth, respectively, over the same period last year. It hopes to post year-over-year revenue growth of between 20 percent and 30 percent in the fourth quarter.

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