Fast-growing Taiwanese smartphone-maker HTC reported a 68 percent increase in net income for the third quarter, but sales fell short of both the firm’s earlier forecast and analysts’ expectations.

Net income for the quarter rose to TWD18.6 billion (US$608 million), ahead of an average analyst forecast of TWD18.1 billion in a Bloomberg poll. Revenue climbed 79 percent from a year earlier to TWD135.8 billion, but that was below HTC’s earlier guidance (set in July) for TWD137 billion and the TWD137.4 billion predicted in the analysts’ poll. 

According to Bloomberg, this was the first time in four quarters that HTC had missed analysts’ sales expectations – even though it was the firm’s sixth consecutive quarter of record sales.

HTC’s shares rose slightly in response to the earnings statement yesterday, though the stock has lost around a third of the value since the Summer, which is thought to be linked to its ongoing patents litigation with Apple.

Yuanta Securities analyst Bonnie Chang told the Wall Street Journal that recently released models, such as the HTC Rhyme and HTC Sensation 4G, would be key to its fourth-quarter results. "Margins right now are a bit disappointing, suggesting HTC is increasing its expenses on new models," she said. New models based on Microsoft’s new Windows Phone platform (Mango) have also just started shipping.

HTC is due to announce Q3 shipment figures later this month.