Things have not been smooth sailing for HTC lately. Back in October 2013, the company reported its first ever quarterly loss. This, in turn, has led to some changes for HTC’s co-founder and chairwoman, Cher Wang. She has taken a more hands-on approach to running the company.
Today, we are privy to HTC’s fourth quarter 2013 financial numbers. It seems that the fourth quarter has not fared as well as expected. On a yearly comparison, fourth quarter 2012 reported $1.98 billion, this compares to $1.41 billion for 2013. This represents about a 28 percent drop year-over-year.
The final result of this shows a net profit of $10 million. This means that HTC pretty much ended the year by breaking even. If you look at the positive side that does mean that they made a major comeback from third to fourth quarter earnings.
Expect to see some changes in HTC’s future. In an interview with Reuters, Cher Wang said that HTC intends to develop a stronger mid to low-end smartphone portfolio. She said, “The problem with us last year was we only concentrated on our flagship. We missed a huge chunk of the mid-tier market.”
Something that could also help HTC is that last week, it signed a patent and technology agreement with Nokia. As you may recall, the final months of last year had HTC losing a lawsuit to Nokia. The agreement has HTC settling all existing patent litigation with Nokia in seven countries.
According to Goldman Sachs, the feeling is that this settlement will have both positive and negative implications for HTC. Robert Yen, who is a Taipei-based Goldman Sachs’ analyst said, "This is probably the final settlement for HTC with major non-Android competitors. It previously entered into settlements or licensing schemes with Microsoft and Apple, thus largely removing any litigation overhang."
Although HTC is having a rough spell, it hasn’t thrown in the towel. Since all its major patent infringement lawsuits are settled and agreements made, it can relax on that front. A stronger focus away from a single product, like the HTC One and producing more mid and low-ranged devices will also help.
HTC also told Bloomberg last week that it is hoping that a new wearable device, better marketing along with a new flagship device are all positive moves forward. The company however, is not looking at the world through rose colored glasses.
Breaking even for its fourth quarter results and coming to a collaborative agreement with Nokia are just the first steps in getting back in the game. On the realistic side, HTC forecasted today that it will stay in the red in the first quarter of 2014.
The company’s CEO, Peter Chou said, "We will continue to stay focused on making the best smartphone and building a compelling mid-range portfolio. Meanwhile, we are going to communicate better with consumers."
All of this shows great promise for HTC and what could possibly be a brighter future.
Edited by
Cassandra Tucker 
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