HTC Q1 Sales, Profit Tank on Smartphone Competition | Wireless Week

HTC saw steep declines in both sales and profits during the first quarter as it continues to lose market share to smartphone rivals Apple and Samsung.
The Taiwanese handset maker released unaudited financial results today showing its first-quarter sales dropped nearly 35 percent over last year to $2.3 billion. Profits dived 70 percent to about $151 million.
The company didn't elaborate on its slumping financials but had warned investors it expected to have a weak first quarter. HTC has been ceding ground to other handset manufacturers in recent months, a reversal of fortune from its former success with the Android platform.
IDC reported that HTC lost market share to Apple and Samsung during the last three months of 2011. Even though HTC posted an increase in shipment volumes, its overall share of the global handset market dropped two percentage points to just 6.5 percent, a position dwarfed by Apple and Samsung's combined market share of 46.3 percent.
ComScore recently reported that HTC had made some gains in the key U.S. market but still lags behind its larger competitors. Its share of the U.S. smartphone market inched up four-tenths of a percentage point to 6.3 percent between December of last year and the end of February.
Samsung and its Android-based Galaxy devices held 25.6 percent of the market during the same period, with Apple's ever-popular iPhone holding 13.5 percent.
HTC is staking its turnaround efforts on its One series of smartphones released at Mobile World Congress. The three smartphones run the latest version of Android and feature an updated user interface.
T-Mobile USA will be the country's first operator to carry a device from the line, the HTC One S. The phone will launch sometime this spring, but specific availability and pricing have yet to be announced.
 HTC Q1 Sales, Profit Tank on Smartphone Competition | Wireless Week