Friday, October 5, 2007
HTC Aiming To Ship 15 Million Smartphones In 2008
Posted by Nurhisham Hussein in "NEWS" @ 03:00 AM
"High Tech Computer (HTC) projects it will ship 15 million smartphones in 2008, up 30% from the shipment volume projected for 2007, the Chinese-language Commercial Times quoted sources at HTC as saying...HTC's share price rose by the daily 7% up-limit, to close at NT$529 (US$16.20) on the Taiwan Stock Exchange (TSE) on October 2 after the company revealed it shipped over 800,000 HTC Touch phones since it went on sale in late July."
I love that last bit, given the hype and media attention a certain competitor has received over the same period - though to be fair, pricing and market segments are pretty different. I mean if market penetration was all that mattered, Nokia has everybody beat! Now as for the 15 million target, 30% growth is pretty substantial, which explains the runup in the stock price. Revenue growth was pretty awful the first half of this year, so the Touch - even rushed out as it was *ahem* - gives investors hope that HTC's shift from an ODM-centric to own-brand strategy might actually pay off. The Kaiser/Tilt will also certainly help boost the Q4 bottom-line. If we're talking about 30% growth next year though, they'll have to be looking at releasing some pretty nifty new models - Omni and Polaris, anyone?
Update: HTC's September revenue just hit an all time high, so the Touch is having giving the company a pretty good boost at least to the top-line of the P&L. With the recent launch of the Tilt and Touch Dual, 4Q numbers ought to look pretty good - stay tuned.
I love that last bit, given the hype and media attention a certain competitor has received over the same period - though to be fair, pricing and market segments are pretty different. I mean if market penetration was all that mattered, Nokia has everybody beat! Now as for the 15 million target, 30% growth is pretty substantial, which explains the runup in the stock price. Revenue growth was pretty awful the first half of this year, so the Touch - even rushed out as it was *ahem* - gives investors hope that HTC's shift from an ODM-centric to own-brand strategy might actually pay off. The Kaiser/Tilt will also certainly help boost the Q4 bottom-line. If we're talking about 30% growth next year though, they'll have to be looking at releasing some pretty nifty new models - Omni and Polaris, anyone?
Update: HTC's September revenue just hit an all time high, so the Touch is having giving the company a pretty good boost at least to the top-line of the P&L. With the recent launch of the Tilt and Touch Dual, 4Q numbers ought to look pretty good - stay tuned.
