HTC sees third quarter revenue down as much as 23%

Despite launching its most acclaimed smartphone yet with the HTC One X, the Taiwan based firm continues to struggle in the marketplace. After a terrible second quarter, it looks like more of the same for HTC in Q3. The company has announced that revenue for the period will be down as much as 23% sequentially, dropping to NT$70-80 billion ($2.3-2.7 billion USD) from NT$91.04 billion ($3.04 billion) in the second quarter. Margins are expected to fall 2 points to 25% for gross margins and 7% for operating margin. All this means that HTC is making less of a profit on the smaller amount of money that is coming in to the company.

While HTC doesn't give reasons for the worsening earnings forecast, one simply needs to look at which smartphone is in everyone's hands and that is the Samsung Galaxy S III which has already sold more than 10 million units. And in a matter of weeks, HTC will have the next Apple iPhone to contend with. It's a one-two punch that just might knock HTC to the canvas for the count.

HTC recently closed its offices in South Korea in a bid to cut costs, but it is going to require more than shrinking spending to turn things around. The company thought it had a major hit with the HTC One X, but HTC is going to have to go back to the drawing board to come up with a model that can challenge the Samsung Galaxy S III and the next iteration of the Apple iPhone.

The company recently changed tactics and decided to focus on launching a smaller number of higher quality phones over the year. This resulted in the HTC One series which includes the HTC One X, the HTC One S and the HTC One V

source: SlashGear