The worst may finally be behind HTC, but no thanks to smartphones
There are plenty of companies and brands involved in the mobile tech business in one form or another that have seen their popularity wane over the years, ranging from Nokia to BlackBerry, LG, and Motorola, but for long-time Android enthusiasts, HTC's fall from grace must be the most painful of all these failure stories.
The creators of the very first Android phone in history and the manufacturers of other smash hits like the HD2, HD7, and HTC One are pretty much irrelevant in today's mobile landscape, experimenting with blockchain technology and holding off on 5G handsets to release "smart hubs" instead in the hopes of turning a profit after years and years of financial losses. While that day might still be a ways off, the company has finally managed to stop its monthly bleeding by reporting around $42 million (NT$1.31 billion) in March 2019 consolidated revenue.
Although that number seems tiny if you compare it to Apple, Samsung, Huawei, Xiaomi, or even LG's mobile earnings these days, it's actually a big improvement from HTC's awful February 2019 score. We're talking a whopping 110 percent sequential surge, but before the brand's remaining hardcore fans declare this resurgence successful, they should know this latest monthly result is also close to 53 percent down from the company's March 2018 revenues.
Overall, HTC earned a measly $95 million or so during the year's first calendar quarter, which represents a decline of 66.51 percent compared to the same period in 2018. Worse still, Digitimes reports "strong sales" of VR headsets, not smartphones, were what boosted HTC's financials last month, which definitely makes sense. After all, the U11, U11+, and U12 handsets are quite old and stuck with an archaic OS version, while the Exodus 1 is simply not a product for the masses, even if it's now available in real money as an alternative to cryptocurrency.
Still, if HTC can ride the success of its virtual reality hardware and software, which is actually expected to happen this month, perhaps the company will also start trying a little harder to mount a comeback in the global smartphone market.
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