Smartphone giant’s troubles

Published on 07/02/2012 00:00

Taiwan-based smartphone maker HTC has reported a 26 per cent drop in profits in the final quarter of last year as the weak global economy and intense competition hit sales.

The firm said profits amounted to 10.9 billion New Taiwan dollars (£233.5 million) – on revenue of 101bn New Taiwan dollars – in the three months ending December. The company blamed the slowdown on lacklustre sales of its newly launched high-end smartphones amid increased competition from Apple and South Korea’s Samsung.