The beginning of this week saw HTC the embattled technology manufacturer coming out with its 2016 Q1 earnings. The numbers revealed were disastrous as expected. In 2015 the company’s revenue had dropped from NT$ 41.5 billion in Q1 to just NT$ 25.7 billion in Q4. HTC welcomed the new year by dropping even further to NT$ 14.8 billion.
This reveals a very big drop in revenue from Q1 2015 to Q1 2016 that is around 64%.Profits should a drop of 78% every year. Due to its poor performance last year ie 2015, it was essential for HTC to bounce back in 2016. As expected the early numbers shown are not very promising. The response to the poor reception and commercial performance of the One M9 and A9 which were the biggest moves made by the company was not inserted in the Q1 report. Of course we cannot expect the company to reach Apple’s standard within few months, but this year we find that the company has made some smart and interesting moves. We should therefore wait till the end of the year before deciding whether we should or should not write HTC off.
As always the HTC’s potential rebound starts with its smart phone. It understood that they could not ignore complaints from its user base, if they wanted to perform well. They realized that it was essential for them to listen to the criticism that surrounded its smart phones last year. Taking all these into consideration the company launched its new HTC 10. Till date, this is the best smart phone delivered. Its hardware is extraordinary. HTC, as a brand has been the leading smart phone of choice for many who prefer quality and assurance over newbie entrants in the market. Only time will tell whether HTC regains what it had.
