Taiwanese handset vendor HTC – manufacturer of the first Android-powered G1 device – is reaping the rewards of recent success, reporting a 30 percent rise in third-quarter revenue to TWD37,859 million (US$1.17 billion). The company also expects 20-30 percent growth in full-year 2008 revenue. Net income after tax was TWD7,071 million (US$219 million), a slight drop from the same period last year, but the company cited typhoon weather as causing delays in shipment in September.

The third-quarter sales boom reflects HTC’s status as a rising player in the handset market. Although still not a top five vendor in total device market share, according to Gartner the company gained the number three position (4.1 percent market share) for smartphone sales in Q2 this year, moving up from its number seven ranking in the previous quarter. HTC has moved away from manufacturing phones that were rebranded by operators to producing its own branded devices, such as the popular Touch device that runs Windows Mobile software. Further releases in the Touch portfolio are expected in the fourth quarter, as well as the high-profile G1, powered by Google’s new mobile operating system, Android. Reports this week state that exclusive operator T-Mobile has said that preorders of the phone have been three times greater than expected, reports that jibe with recent analyst forecasts that the G1 will capture 4 percent of the entire US smartphone market in the fourth quarter. In separate developments, reports in Taiwan media suggest China Mobile is teaming with HTC to develop an Android-powered TD-SCDMA handset in time for the operators’s commercial rollout of 3G TD-SCDMA networks.