HTC's value has dropped 47% since it launched the HTC One M9

How disappointing has the HTC One M9 been? Since the phone launched on March 21st, HTC's shares have declined by 47% nearly slicing the value of the manufacturer in half. On March 20th, the last trading day before the phone was released, HTC was trading at the equivalent of $4.59 USD a share. After trading today, HTC's shares closed at $2.44 USD.

HTC recently announced that it expects to report an operating loss between $257 million and $291 million USD for its second quarter. And it has cut component orders for the HTC One M9 by 30%. It now plans on building 3.2 million units of its flagship phone. Even adding new versions to the One M9 hasn't helped. Some of these spin-offs have larger, higher resolution screens, but these models are not being offered in the U.S.

HTC Chairwomen Cher Wang remains upbeat about the company. HTC says that it is designing a new "Hero" phone which is expected to be released in October. Until then, HTC is going to have to do something to right the ship, although it isn't clear what steps could be taken. Cutting the price of the HTC One M9 and pushing out new features for the Sense UI are two alternatives.

The HTC One M9 is running into tough competition from a resurgent Samsung. The Samsung Galaxy S6 and Samsung Galaxy S6 edge are clearly leading the pack among Android flavored handsets. And the Apple iPhone 6 and Apple iPhone 6 Plus are still selling tremendously well as buyers flock to their larger screens.

Meanwhile, the HTC One M9 has been criticized for looking too similar to the company's previous two flagship models. In addition, even though HTC finally replaced the 4MP Ultrapixel camera that was on the back of the HTC One (M7) and HTC One (M8), there have been complaints made about the 20MP camera that replaced it. HTC has pushed out a pair of software updates, but it might be a situation of being too little, too late.

source: GSMArena via Bloomberg