HTC Blames iPhone Competition for 70 Percent Drop in Net Profit

[Maura]

Reuters reports today that HTC is once again blaming Apple’s iPhone for its financial woes. Earlier this month, the Taiwanese company announced a 70% fall in net profit in the first quarter, and yesterday, chief executive officer Peter Chou laid much of the blame at Apple’s door in an analysts' briefing, telling the meeting that the “big drop in sales in the U.S.” was “ a major challenge”, which he put down to “competition from the iPhone 4S". This marks a dramatic turnaround in fortunes for HTC, which was at one time seen as one of Apple’s major rivals, particularly during the heady days of 2010 and early 2011, when HTC’s shares more than tripled, according to Reuters. Somehow though, HTC dropped the ball just when Apple hit one out of the park with the launch of the iPhone 4S in October 2011, and HTC fell behind both Apple’s iPhone and Samsung’s Galaxy. And it doesn’t look like HTC will be turning that slump around any time soon, as according to Reuters, Barclays Capital analyst Dale Gai has been saying that the launch of the iPhone 5, whenever it is, could result in up to 10% downside for HTC’s 2012 earnings per share.

Source: UPDATE 1-HTC sees recovery but no return to U.S. peaks | Reuters
Via AppleInsider