HTC reported its first quarterly revenue increase since 2011 as it appeared to benefit from its new mid-range smartphones and tablet produced in collaboration with Google.
The Taiwanese vendor reported revenue of TWD47.86 billion ($1.5 billion) in its unaudited results for the fourth quarter of the year, an improvement on the TWD42.9 billion reported a year earlier.
Its net profit before tax was TWD470 million while operating profit for the period was TWD180 million. Net profit was up from TWD310 million a year earlier.
The revenue increase and operating profit beat analyst expectations, according to Financial Times.
HTC struggled to keep pace with the likes of Samsung and Apple in recent years, despite its initial success in the smartphone space. The company’s woes culminated in its first annual loss in 2013.
Yuanta Securities analyst Jeff Pu said that it is still too early to say HTC was going to make a recovery as it received a one-off boost from the release of the Google Nexus 9 tablet in November. Google is expected to work with Asus on the next version of the tablet.
The launch of two mid-range Desire smartphones meant HTC could rely less on its flagship One product line.
However, more mid-range devices are expected to emerge from Chinese players in the next few months, ramping up competition. Pu suggested that HTC will need to cut the prices of its mid-tier devices to compete effectively.
HTC has tried to cut costs by reducing the number of smartphone models it offers and outsourcing production of its lower-end products to Chinese manufacturers.
The company announced in December that November sales figures indicated it was heading towards sales growth for the fourth quarter. It had previously announced a slow start to the period, although this was not unexpected.
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