HTC pulls a 180 degree reversal; company now expects revenue to fall in 2009

Earlier this year. HTC said it would grow revenues about 10% during 2009. Now, after what the company is calling unexpected slowdowns in unit shipments and other product delays, the Taiwanese manufacturer now expects a low to mid-single digit decline in revenue this year. HTC chairman Peter Chou said, "Our momentum in the second half of this year may not be as strong as we initially thought". And while not mentioning any particular handset by name, the HTC exec added, "Momentum on both the Windows Mobile and Android platforms are also turning out to be weaker than expected."

The company earlier this month reported second quarter earnings of  $197.1 million dollars. That figure was higher than analysts had expected for the period and HTC said that full year shipments would be 20% higher than an earlier prediction due to the strength of their smartphone models. But the momentum has slowed down despite good reviews and public demand for HTC phones like the Windows Mobile powered Touch Pro2. That handset is about to launch in the U.S. on August 12th with T-Mobile. On the Android side, the HTC Hero has had strong reviews and is the first phone with Google's open source OS to support flash. As we've reported, a list of upcoming devices for Sprint shows the Hero being released for the pin-dropping network on October 11th.

HTC Hero Specifications
HTC TouchPro2 Preliminary Specifications | Review (EU)