Profits at Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer HTC have fallen by 79 percent year-on-year during the third quarter of 2012 as the company struggles keep up with rivals Apple and Samsung.
HTC profits for the period between July and September fell from T$18.68 billion (£397m) during the same period last year to T$3.9billion (£83.1m), missing analyst forecasts of T$5.57 billion. The figures are also down from the T$7.4 billion (£11.9m) it recorded in the previous quarter.
Third quarter revenues decreased from around T$91 billion (£1.9bn) last quarter to T$70.2 billion (£1.5bn).
HTC Results Slump
The results will be a blow to the fifth largest smartphone manufacturer in the world, which has established its own brand after previously making handsets for other companies.
HTC has recently announced the launch of a number of new smartphones in an effort compete with the likes of the Apple iPhone 5 and the Samsung Galaxy S III.
Last week it announced the HTC One X+, a “refreshed version” of its well-received HTC One X flagship smartphone. The new device will be released in October and promises a longer battery life, increased performance and a range of other improvements. It will also have a 1.7GHz quad-core NVIDIA Tegra3 processor which will make it up to 67 percent faster than its predecessor.
HTC has also unveiled two new smartphones running Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 operating system, the HTC 8X and the lower-end HTC 8S. They will compete against other devices on the platform such as the Nokia Lumia 920.
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