HTC reported disappointing sales figures for May 2014, indicating that the uplift it saw in previous months may have only been temporary, following the introduction of its One (M8) flagship.

The company announced revenue of TWD21.07 billion ($701.3 million) for the period, down 4.6 per cent over the prior month (TWD22.08 billion), and down 22.4 per cent year-on-year (TWD29 billion).

HTC had seen month-on-month (and indeed year-on-year) growth during March and April, as it started to see momentum building around One (M8).

But, as in previous years, the company has also seen itself launching its flagship at a time when competition in the market is at its strongest, with Samsung beginning shipments of its Galaxy S5, and new flagship devices also debuted by Huawei, LG Electronics and Sony.

HTC is forecasting Q2 (April-June) revenue of TWD65 billion to TWD70 billion, meaning it will need to see monthly sales of TWD21.9 billion to hit the low-end of its target.

The news comes as the company added another device to its line, One (E8), the anticipated sibling to One (M8) with a plastic body, in place of metal.

It is said to represent “a slight departure from other HTC One family smartphones while retaining their sleek, ergonomic design and striking appearance”.

While the device shares some features with One (M8), such as the BoomSound front-facing speakers, it omits some others, such as the “ultrapixel” camera used on the flagship.

The 5-inch screen device will also be available in a dual-SIM version, and has 16GB of onboard storage with an SD expansion slot.

It is available in white, red, blue and grey, from this month, in “select markets”.

One (E8) joins the somewhat clumsily-named One Mini 2 among the company’s recently-refreshed high-end portfolio.

But reports this week also said that a phablet sibling (referred to as One Prime) has been shelved indefinitely.

This device would have seen a specification bump, with faster processor, better screen (qHD, on a par with LG’s G3) and increased capacity.