In the heat of the battle, one falls and another rises. Such is the case for HTC as the company faltered in its third quarter earnings while Samsung posted record profits. This is HTC's first loss in over a decade, which is mainly due to increased competition from Apple and Samsung. The Taiwanese company has been going through a difficult time and is struggling to stay in the smartphone race.
At the moment, HTC is too small to compete effectively with Apple and Samsung Apple, despite having great products that are just as good, if not better, than the iPhone and Galaxy S smartphones. HTC is clearly struggling and it seems there's no quick fix.
"The sands are shifting quickly underneath the feet of HTC and the sharp rate of share loss has been exacerbated by the reduced brand power," Mark Sue, an analyst at RBC Capital, told CNet. "For the most part consumers have equated Galaxy with Android and many purchase decisions are made even before the customer walks into a store."
HTC posted losses of $101 million for the third quarter ending September 30. On top of that, HTC stock has fallen by 80 percent over a 2 year period. This is a serious problem for a company that was once one of the most talked-about smartphone manufacturers 5 years ago. The company was well known for its line of Windows Mobile devices and as the first to launch an Android device.
HTC was ranked ninth in the global smartphone market during the second quarter, with 2.8 percent share, compared to 5.8 percent market share it held a year earlier, and if something is not done to stem the slide, the company might end up in the same quagmire as Nokia and BlackBerry.
The company said it has teamed up with Robert Downey Jr. to help boost sales of its devices. However, the campaign so far has been confusing. For instance, the ad (see below) speaks almost nothing of the phones and maiinly centers on what is the meaning of "HTC." We're not sure how much the Iron Man star got paid for this marketing/brand-building campaign, but HTC would do better making smarter commercials similar to the ones made by Apple and Samsung - commercials that are funny, interesting and manage to drive the point home, with or without celebrities.
