The world’s No.4 smartphone manufacturer HTC Corp. is seeing a downward trend in terms of its shares and profit margins.
The Taoyuan, Taiwan-based HTC announced earlier that it expected revenue to fall up to 8 percent in October-December from the third quarter, however last week it indicated that the losses would be even greater due to competition from Apple Inc. and Samsung, and the global economic slump.
Since the announcement on Nov. 24, shares have plunged 7 percent. Many brokerage firms, such as Citigroup and Credit Suisse, have cut their stock ratings on HTC.
The overall dampening of consumer sentiment has caused a dent in the smartphone market. For instance, there are global litigation activities attempting to block sales and generating controversy with the two leading players—Apple and Samsung. Although Nokia has been dominant in the overall mobile phone industry, it is also facing job cuts to reduce costs and BlackBerry maker Research in Motion is also struggling with demand.
According to Thomson Reuters StarMine data, five analysts are recommending to “Sell” HTC, the numbers advising to “Buy” has dropped from 13 to 9.
HTC has been one of the biggest makers of Android-based smartphones. In the United States during the third quarter, HTC shipped 5.7 million smartphones, and an additional 70,000 T-Mobile branded phones manufactured by HTC, according to technology industry research firm Canalys.
