Taiwanese phone firm HTC is expected to announce a 90 percent fall in profits for the last three months of 2012, which CEO Peter Chou blames on strong competition and lack of marketing.
The company is set to unveil its new M7 handset this month, but expects to announce a large fall in profits as well as a 17 percent decline in revenue in the first quarter of this year.
HTC predicts its first quarter revenue will be between NT$50 billion and NT$60 billion (US$1.69 – US$2.03 billion), well below analysts’ forecasts. Gross profit is expected to stay flat or decline marginally.
“Our competitors were too strong and very resourceful, pouring in lots of money into marketing,” he told the Wall Street Journal. “We haven’t done enough on the marketing front.”
He did, however, predict that this year “would not be too bad”.
