TAIPEI: Smartphone shipments from Taiwan-based handset brands and ODMs fell by more than 10 per cent in Q3 from the previous quarter to 19.54 million units.
Both HTC and Acer saw shipments decline in the quarter compared to Q2, with only Asus experiencing an increase. Most of the country’s ODMs, except for Arima Communications, also faced declines, with Compal Electronics, Foxconn and Wistron posting falling shipments, according to estimates by DigiTimes Research.
ODM orders from LG, TCL and Micromax were not strong enough to make up for a drop in orders from Sony Mobile and Microsoft Mobile, DigiTimes Research said. Compal shipped the most handsets in the quarter, while Asus was second, with strong sales of its new ZenFone series.
HTC reported a loss in Q3, as it struggled for sales on the back of tough competition in the smartphone market. Sony’s troubled smartphone unit also had an operating loss in its first fiscal quarter ending 30 June and reported a sharp decrease in sales, with smartphone shipments falling to 7.2 million units from 9.4 million in the prior year (and from 7.9 million in the prior sequential quarter).
