Smartphone pioneer HTC announced weak results for the third quarter of 2012, as the company has struggled to make headway in the competitive market against rivals including Samsung.

According to Bloomberg, the Taiwanese company posted a “record profit decline”, failing to meet already muted analyst expectations.

For the third quarter of 2012, HTC announced an unaudited net income of TWD3.9 billion (US$133.1 million), on total revenue of TWD70.2 billion. This compares with a profit of TWD18.68 billion on revenue of TWD135.82 billion in the same period last year.

The company had previously warned that Q3 would be tough, guiding that revenue would be in the TWD70 billion to TWD80 billion range – meaning the figures announced today have come in at the low-end.

It noted at the time that that it “continues to optimise organisational structure and resources to increase efficiency and competitiveness, focusing on key growth areas”.

While HTC revamped its smartphone range with the launch of its One smartphone family (pictured) at the GSMA Mobile World Congress in February this year, this was swiftly overshadowed by the launch of Samsung’s Galaxy SIII – which has become the de facto Android flagship.

Kevin Chang, an analyst with Citigroup in Taiwan, told Bloomberg that HTC is facing further losses in Europe and the US during the fourth quarter, while increased competition is also evident in the Chinese market.

The company has recently looked to broaden its portfolio by announcing a pair of smartphones powered by Microsoft’s next-generation Windows Phone 8 platform.