A small breath of air does not make a breath. This is how the financial results published by the Taiwanese company HTC are translated, relative to the accounts of last October. After taking stock of the cash at the end of the first month of the fourth quarter, the company found that its income was 27.1 percent below what it had at the same time last year.
And this despite the fact that compared to September there was a slight increase in incoming money. Specifically, the 522 million dollars (about 385 million euros, at the current rate) that they raised represented 3.2 percent more than the previous month, although in the global year-on-year it only serves to cushion, anecdotally, the process of collapse that have been registering for two years.
Thus, so far this year, HTC's revenue drop is 28.6 percent compared to 2012 figures. There are already about 6,450 million dollars (about 4,766 million euros, at the current exchange rate) that have entered the box of the Taiwanese multinational, so that they will not be able to get out of the red numbers that were verified last November and that they jeopardize the company's strategy.
The setback, as is logical, has its translation in the sale of equipment. According to the forecasts that are handled, during the fourth quarter of this year they will distribute just 5.2 million devices, which will have an impact on a 16.2 percent decrease in their business volume compared to the same period registered in 2012.
These forecasts are very generous compared to those anticipated by some consulting firms. Macquarie Securities, for example, assured that the decline in HTC sales would reach alarming levels that would reach up to 40 percent compared to 2012. Thus, they point out that between September and December they could barely exceed the range of between 600,000 and 700,000 units per month. That being the case, the debacle could be of such a caliber that it halved HTC's forecasts, which would not lead to the signing of the firm's death certificate, but at least to require severe shock treatment to avoid disaster.
During the second half of the year the company has chosen to strengthen its mid-range catalog, in order to approach the public that supports a large part of the smartphone market. However, the proposals follow the erratic pricing policy that they have been displaying. The HTC Desire 601, HTC Desire 500, HTC Desire 300 or HTC Desire 700 (the latter still unofficial in our country) are attractive equipment in the technical section, but require a cost for the user that rises excessively over the proposals of the competition. In fact, according to HTC, it is the loss of presence in markets such as North America or Europewhich has led to the drop in income. And we are talking about the regions where more consumption of high-end and mid-range equipment occurs, so the pricing strategy could be vital for a rebound that takes HTC to the safe zone that it has long abandoned.
