Q4 bad for HTC, but things are looking up for Q1 this year
Published : Sunday, 25 March, 2018
HTC’s final quarter in 2017 was not good. In the press release announcing the results, the focus is mainly on the good things that happened in January, as not much positive can be said about the October - December quarter.The company’s revenue was only $540 million, leading to a net loss after tax of $337 million. The company attributes this to a number of factors including the product mix, market competition, inventory write-offs and pricing. They’re basically saying that anything that could go wrong, did go wrong, short of a natural disaster.
The press release then continues by highlighting the positives that occurred after the quarter. As Google has acquired part of the company’s mobile division for $1.1 billion, this should push the Q1 2018 results back into the black.
Vive Pro was also launched globally, while Vive Focus was launched in China. A total of 29 awards were also won at CES, including several “Best in Show” awards. The HTC U11+ also went on sale in December or January (depending on the region), and any profits from these sales will only be felt in the Q1 results.
HTC will be using the money from the Google deal for big investments in emerging technologies. These technologies are seen as being vital for long-term growth opportunities. HTC, however, refrained from commenting on just which technologies these may be and how long it will take before they start making money.
Meanwhile, the company has started consolidating its regional businesses under common leadership and is also looking at optimizing its processes and teams. HTC had better act fast though, as the preliminary January results are not looking good at all.
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