• Home
  • News
  • Fortune 500
  • Tech
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia
TechHTC

HTC is in deep trouble. Here’s why

By
Kif Leswing
Kif Leswing
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Kif Leswing
Kif Leswing
Down Arrow Button Icon
October 30, 2015, 11:41 AM ET
Courtesy of HTC

HTC’s earnings are headed in the wrong direction after the company reported its second quarterly loss in a row on Friday. The Taiwanese electronics manufacturer posted a 4.5 billion New Taiwan dollar ($139 million) loss on revenue of NT$21.4 billion ($660 million). Revenue was roughly half of what it was during the same period last year.

At this time last year, HTC was turning a small profit. Now it’s posting big losses, although the company said its results were at the “higher end of expectations.” However, the company declined to publish future guidance on its profit or losses.

HTC is in trouble for two major reasons. First, the smartphone market is more competitive than ever. Last year’s revenue was buoyed by mid-range handsets under the Desire brand that sold well in markets like China. But those phones are increasingly competing against handsets from Huawei, Xiaomi, and other smaller manufacturers which may have stronger brands in China, and can often undercut HTC on price.

The company has invested in software and services, like its Blinkfeed social network, to fight smartphone commoditization and justify higher prices, but ultimately its Android apps have been inessential.

HTC did release a new device last month, the HTC One A9, which bears more than a passing resemblance to Apple’s iPhone. HTC said the device was met with “critical acclaim,” but it’s too early to tell whether it will be a strong seller.

MORE:Samsung’s long, international nightmare is over (for now)

The other major problem that HTC faces is that its long-term strategy to expand beyond smartphones appears to be stuck in neutral.

HTC announced in January that it planned to expand into connected devices and wearables, but so far it has failed to release even a single connected product in 2015.

Earlier this year the company revealed the HTC Grip, a fitness tracker developed in partnership with Under Armour (UA), but earlier this week the company delayed the wearable until next year. HTC also hasn’t announced a smartwatch yet, conceding that market to rivals like Motorola and Huawei.

HTC’s connected camera, the Re, has also failed to find traction since it went on sale late last year, and it currently retails for 25% of its original $200 price tag. While sales figures aren’t available, the Re app for Android has been downloaded fewer than 500,000 times.

The company has pinned some of its hopes on virtual reality and is planning to widely release a headset developed with Valve next year. But the virtual reality market is still relatively small, especially compared to smartphones, and by the time HTC’s Vive headset is released it will be in a three-way battle against similar products from Facebook-owned Oculus(FB) and Sony (SNE).

If there’s a bright lining to HTC’s woes it’s that the company still has a reasonable cash balance of NT$43.3 billion ($1.33 billion) so it can survive a few more quarters like this one while it figures its overall strategy out.

Sign up for Data Sheet, Fortune’s daily newsletter about the business of technology.

For more Fortune coverage of virtual reality, watch this video:

About the Author
By Kif Leswing
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Tech

satellite
AIData centers
Google’s plan to put data centers in the sky faces thousands of (little) problems: space junk
By Mojtaba Akhavan-TaftiDecember 3, 2025
4 hours ago
Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta Platforms Inc., during the Meta Connect event in Menlo Park, California, US, on Wednesday, Sept. 25, 2024.
AIMeta
Inside Silicon Valley’s ‘soup wars’: Why Mark Zuckerberg and OpenAI are hand-delivering soup to poach talent
By Eva RoytburgDecember 3, 2025
5 hours ago
Greg Abbott and Sundar Pichai sit next to each other at a red table.
AITech Bubble
Bank of America predicts an ‘air pocket,’ not an AI bubble, fueled by mountains of debt piling up from the data center rush
By Sasha RogelbergDecember 3, 2025
5 hours ago
Alex Karp smiles on stage
Big TechPalantir Technologies
Alex Karp credits his dyslexia for Palantir’s $415 billion success: ‘There is no playbook a dyslexic can master … therefore we learn to think freely’
By Lily Mae LazarusDecember 3, 2025
6 hours ago
Isaacman
PoliticsNASA
Billionaire spacewalker pleads his case to lead NASA, again, in Senate hearing
By Marcia Dunn and The Associated PressDecember 3, 2025
6 hours ago
Kris Mayes
LawArizona
Arizona becomes latest state to sue Temu over claims that its stealing customer data
By Sejal Govindarao and The Associated PressDecember 3, 2025
6 hours ago

Most Popular

placeholder alt text
North America
Jeff Bezos and Lauren Sánchez Bezos commit $102.5 million to organizations combating homelessness across the U.S.: ‘This is just the beginning’
By Sydney LakeDecember 2, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Economy
Ford workers told their CEO 'none of the young people want to work here.' So Jim Farley took a page out of the founder's playbook
By Sasha RogelbergNovember 28, 2025
5 days ago
placeholder alt text
North America
Anonymous $50 million donation helps cover the next 50 years of tuition for medical lab science students at University of Washington
By The Associated PressDecember 2, 2025
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
C-Suite
MacKenzie Scott's $19 billion donations have turned philanthropy on its head—why her style of giving actually works
By Sydney LakeDecember 2, 2025
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Innovation
Google CEO Sundar Pichai says we’re just a decade away from a new normal of extraterrestrial data centers
By Sasha RogelbergDecember 1, 2025
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Law
Netflix gave him $11 million to make his dream show. Instead, prosecutors say he spent it on Rolls-Royces, a Ferrari, and wildly expensive mattresses
By Dave SmithDecember 2, 2025
1 day ago
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map

© 2025 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.