Stiff Android competition is putting HTC on the ropes - still a market leader

HTC's beginnings may be unknown to a lot of people around the world, but the last few year we've seen them explode onto the scene and become a smartphone market leader. They were also the first to take on Google's mobile platform, Android, when everyone was unsure about the stability and profitability it offered. For now though, international investment institutions are leaning to a more conservative stance for the Taiwan-based company's fourth quarter outlook. The reason being for a change of heart is due to the increasing competition of other manufactures putting out Android handsets. In the last few months, we've seen a record amount of companies take the plunge and make announcements for their Android based phones. In addition, Motorola has been making some headlines with news about bringing an Android handset to every major wireless carrier in the US soon. There are still some positive outlooks with HTC – they've been working closely with T-Mobile in the US and Europe. T-Mobile USA in particular contributes five to ten percent of HTC's total revenues a year. Credit Suisse is placing HTC's stock to a neutral rating with a an estimated target price of NT$380 (US$11.62). There's still no cause for alarm yet because HTC is going to continue working with Google to roll out the next generation Google phone in the fourth quarter; the Passion.

source: DigiTimes