HTC reports waning profits despite aggressive cost-cutting
Struggling Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer HTC has reported a decline in its net profits to just £6.1m in the fourth quarter, despite a programme of aggressive cost-cutting that included outsourcing production and selling a stake in Beats Electronics.
The figure was well below the £14.7m figure that had been pencilled in by analysts and followed a net loss of £60m in the third quarter and a profit of £20.7m in the same quarter of 2012.
HTC has suffered a turbulent two years of trading; falling from a position where it supplied one in ten smartphones globally to just 2.2 per cent in the third quarter of 2013.
That drop has precipitated a three-quarters decline in the firm’s market value to just £2.4bn, putting it well behind industry leaders Apple and Samsung.
HTC’s woes mirror those of BlackBerry, which recently announced the departure of its creative director Alicia Keys.