TAIPEI: Taiwanese smart phone maker HTC Corp reported quarterly sales higher than expected even though its mid-range Desire phones faced brutal competition from Apple Inc.’s new iPhone models over the holiday season.
The Taoyuan-based company posted combined revenue of NT$47.87 billion (US$1.49 billion) for the October-December period, beating its estimate of NT$43 billion-NT$47 billion set in late October.
Operating profit was NT$0.18 billion and net profit after tax was NT$0.47 billion, translating into earnings per share of NT$0.57, HTC said in a press release.
For the full year of 2014, HTC reported consolidated revenue of NT$187.9 billion, down 7.62 percent from NT$203.4 billion in 2013.
HTC told an investors conference that the Desire 610 and 510 phones experienced good demand and sold well in both the United States and Europe, while the Desire 816 maintained solid sales throughout Taiwan, China, India and the Middle East.
The Desire 820, a successor to the 816 and the world’s first 64-bit octa-core smartphone, was launched in China in late September and received wide distribution support from major operators in that country, HTC said at the time.
