HTC's road map leads to a detour, Q1 shipments will be less than expected

HTC's road map has encountered a detour, although this is one of those stories that you might want to read with a box of salt nearby. According to "industry sources," HTC has decided to cut back on its Q1 shipments because of the recent launch of the Apple iPhone 5 and recently declining smartphone prices in China. Earlier forecasts that HTC would increase first quarter shipments 20-30% from the fourth quarter have been lowered to an increase of 10-15% sequentially.

The Taiwan based manufacturer has reportedly stopped development on some new models for 2013. This happens as those same "industry sources" note that HTC's Windows Phone 8 models have not been selling as well as expected, and that sales of the competition's top models like the Apple iPhone 5 and Samsung Galaxy S III have both been very good.

In China, HTC has been facing stiff competition from white-box smartphone vendors. As a result, the manufacturer has gone against its desire to stick to high end models by selling units for less than CNY 2,000 ($321 USD). HTC declined to comment on the report.

In the U.S., the HTC DROID DNA, with its 5 inch screen, 1080p resolution and Retina display busting pixel density of 441ppi, has created a lot of attention for the manufacturer. The device was third in our Best Phone of 2012 list, behind the Google Nexus 4 and the Apple iPhone 5.

source: Digitimes