HTC’s revenue falls to new 11 year low as Huawei growth soars
It’s no secret in the tech industry that HTC’s phones have been performing abysmally. Just look at any of the past holiday deals from carriers like Verizon, who left HTC’s flagship phone out of trade-in offers for upgrading to a new device. Customers aren’t buying it and carriers don’t want it back. If that wasn’t telling enough, new financial reports show just how dire the outlook is for the Taiwanese company.
Total revenue for the company during 2016 was $2.43 billion USD, which is a 35% decrease from the previous year. Remember, the HTC 10 was a well-received phone this year, but a peek at the monthly financials reveals exactly why Verizon and other carriers didn’t want the devices back. December’s total revenue dropped to a new five-month low for the company, down to just $199.96 million. That’s in a month where most manufacturers see soaring revenue from holiday sales.
Despite Huawei passing on producing the Pixel for Google, its bottom line hasn’t been affected at all. A separate financial report reveals that Huawei managed to ship 139 million smartphones in 2016, which is a 29% increase over the previous year. Huawei’s sales reached a whopping $25.72 billion USD for the year, which is a 42% increase from the previous year.
With Huawei poised to continue its global expansion, what can HTC do differently to make it relevant? Perhaps an HTC Vive-branded smartphone? The HTC Ocean? With the company at new 11-year lows for its revenue stream it will be interesting to see how the Taiwanese manufacturer plays this year and if it will maintain its partnership in producing the Pixel for Google.