HTC

HTC is still losing lots of cash, but slightly less than usual

by Kaloyan C. / Feb 14, 2017, 9:13 AM

The new HTC U line of smartphones is a glimmer of hope for the struggling company

In unsurprising news, sales of HTC's devices continue to be in a slump, and as a result the company is still bleeding money. The latest financials for the phone maker show a 13% decrease in revenue year-over-year, though the losses are just slightly lower than previous quarters.

In Q4 2016, the company had little to show in terms of interesting products, launching only a select few low- and mid-rangers, a fact reflected by its sales numbers. In the report, HTC claims it reduced operating expenditure by as much as 34 percent, and emphasizes the increasing revenue through the course of the year. A particular focus is put on the company's VR venture, the HTC Vive, with the report underlining the recent launch of the first Vive-based arcade and Vive Studios, its in-house VR development team.

HTC is still losing lots of cash, but slightly less than usual

In a press conference last month, the company announced a shift in direction with its upcoming smartphone line, dubbed HTC U. The U Ultra and U Play seem like a pretty okay pair of devices, though the company was widely criticized for the omission of a headphone jack in both of them. The line heavily features a new built-in virtual assistant, called Sense Companion, which appears to be the horse on which HTC has bet in the smartphone race. Whether that tactic will be a successful one remains to be seen, but for now the numbers paint a pretty grim picture for the phone maker.

source: HTC via TechCrunch

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20 Comments

1. nebula

Posts: 1009; Member since: Feb 20, 2015

The whole thing about HTC is a great tragicomedy.

posted on Feb 14, 2017, 9:34 AM 4

2. QuadFace

Posts: 179; Member since: Aug 19, 2013

Is not funny when someone you like is bleeding.

posted on Feb 14, 2017, 9:42 AM 5

15. joey_sfb

Posts: 6794; Member since: Mar 29, 2012

I used to be their fan. Remember the days of Desire series even before the release of Android. Even in their prime their phones are infamous for poor battery life and being first to introduce Android phone with non removable battery also does not help their case. HTC has a long history of pissing off Android user, the latest being the removal of headphone jack.

posted on Feb 14, 2017, 7:45 PM 1

3. ibend

Posts: 6747; Member since: Sep 30, 2014

please continue to sell low-end device with midranger price, and mid-ranger device at flagship price.. that will make your death faster and less painful

posted on Feb 14, 2017, 10:17 AM 8

9. Finalflash

Posts: 4063; Member since: Jul 23, 2013

HTC One X and M7 was where it was at, after that was all downhill. This also kind of started happening after they made that patent cross licensing agreement with Apple. Wonder what the terms and "tech" exchange were all about.

posted on Feb 14, 2017, 3:20 PM 2

13. fyah_king unregistered

The one x battery life was atrocious. It was so bad I had to run it over with my car.

posted on Feb 14, 2017, 6:27 PM 1

17. sissy246

Posts: 7083; Member since: Mar 04, 2015

"HTC One X and M7 was where it was at, after that was all downhill" Agree , the M7 was the best.

posted on Feb 14, 2017, 8:20 PM 0

4. nedimko_wot

Posts: 115; Member since: Oct 01, 2016

that heppens when stupid people are employed and they are still working after so many years

posted on Feb 14, 2017, 10:18 AM 7

5. LanjaKodaka

Posts: 219; Member since: Sep 27, 2016

PA should honour this half-witted idiot "nedimko_wot" and have a separate post dedicated to his english. Idiot, don't you know that there's a difference in you referring to all employees and some employees ? Many of their engineers are committed to create good products like HTC one series. The managers only represent a small part of HTC's employees, you noob.

posted on Feb 14, 2017, 1:22 PM 1

10. mixedfish

Posts: 1552; Member since: Nov 17, 2013

Maybe they should ask their engineers to stop making such thick phones even though they have a camera hump.

posted on Feb 14, 2017, 4:40 PM 1

6. A_A_A

Posts: 222; Member since: Jan 23, 2017

In my opinion, the whole HTC management must be fired for allowing U series to production. Design - surrogate of S7 Edge, 3.5mm removal decision came from Apple, colors look cheesy and camera hump is as ugly as hell (looks like almost 3 generations old Galaxy S6). Nikon recently has canceled DL series of their cameras as they've realized that it wouldn't sell well enough to cover cost of development and all other related costs. But HTC has no balls to accept that they'are releasing something dead on arrival. They prefer to release U series and make loses even knowing about that beforehand. Company and its management work like zombies, following once developed plan, without even trying to stop and think where they are going to. But management doesn't care anyway - they will get their fantastic compensations and bonuses even if company completely fails...

posted on Feb 14, 2017, 2:45 PM 3

7. nebula

Spot on. Then I am curious who is even dumber then management it self to pay all that cash. It is simple delusion and the lack of reality grasp. And by the way there are even worse OEM's then HTC with a colossal branding and technological heritage like SOny ! Interesting landscape smartphone landscape is forming in the last few years.

posted on Feb 14, 2017, 3:07 PM 0

8. drkuthan

Posts: 76; Member since: Mar 08, 2013

HTC advertises everything their phone is not capable of Ruins everything they have done so good in the past Stupid company

posted on Feb 14, 2017, 3:14 PM 1

11. Lenny86

Posts: 301; Member since: Sep 20, 2012

Longest bankruptcy i have ever seen!!!

posted on Feb 14, 2017, 4:45 PM 1

12. medtxa

Posts: 1655; Member since: Jun 02, 2014

because bezels

posted on Feb 14, 2017, 5:06 PM 0

14. hungpakto

Posts: 48; Member since: Sep 30, 2016

Help This Company

posted on Feb 14, 2017, 6:37 PM 0

16. Izzat

Posts: 12; Member since: May 16, 2012

ever since HTC change blinkfeed that uses news republic app ive given up on them... ive saved a lot of news in the saved articles and now their all gone... just to add more fuel into the fire, HTC removed the stock music player app and uses google play music. Ive kinda like the lyrics play with the track that comes with the stock music player.

posted on Feb 14, 2017, 7:58 PM 0

18. robocopvn

Posts: 504; Member since: Mar 10, 2010

The U Ultra is sold for $800 in Vietnam, more expensive than a Iphone 7 and Galaxy S7 The U Play (Helio P10 in 2017, LOLLL) priced $500. HTC must out of their minds, I think !

posted on Feb 14, 2017, 8:27 PM 0

19. A_A_A

U Play is 220-250 USD device at max. Could be even 200 USD if priced really well. But $500... Looks like these guys have a good sense of humor...

posted on Feb 15, 2017, 5:40 AM 0

20. progjunkie

Posts: 3; Member since: Dec 08, 2016

That goes to show you bad customer service and crappy phones equal bad business. The pixel is awesome , I will give them that. Whatever they had to do with it. I hope the doors shut. Sorry . They just screwed me on repairs.