Taiwan's HTC swings back to profit in Q2

Taiwanese smartphone-maker HTC says its net profit in the second quarter came in at NT$2.26bil (US$75mil), up 80% year-on-year and much improved from a net loss of NT$1.88bil in the previous three months - AFP Photo.

TAIPEI: Taiwan's struggling smartphone maker HTC said it has swung back to profit in the April-June quarter thanks to a boost from sales of a new flagship handset, but analysts cautioned against optimism.

The firm said net profit came in at NT$2.26bil (US$75mil) in the second quarter, up 80% year-on-year and much improved from a net loss of NT$1.88bil in the previous three months, when sales hit a three-month low.

It announced its results late Thursday.

Revenue in April-June almost doubled to NT$65.06bil from NT$33.1bil in the first quarter, thanks to the March launch of the HTC One M8.

However, income was at the bottom range of a NT$65bil-NT$70bil forecast and analysts warned HTC had a long way to go before regaining lost ground to rivals Samsung and Apple and low-cost Chinese rivals such as Lenovo and Huawei.

In the 2013 third quarter, HTC swung to its first net loss of US$101mil since listing in 2002, as it fell out of the world's top 10 vendors and has been struggling to increase its foothold in the highly competitive smartphone market. – AFP Photo