HTC Cards $101M Loss In Q4 2015, Its Third Successive Quarter In The Red

HTC’s (financial) struggle is real. The Taiwanese tech firm endured another rough quarter of business after it posted a NT$3.4 billion ($101 million) net loss for Q4 2015. Total revenue came in at NT$25.7 billion ($766 million), which is up nearly 20 percent quarter-on-quarter but down a massive 46 percent year-on-year.

The phone maker booked a slender NT$0.47 billion (then $14.7 million) profit one year ago in Q4 2014, but this time around it is a third successive quarterly loss following on from a NT$4.5 billion ($139 million) loss in Q3 2015, when it stopped forecasting its own sales, and a NT$8.0 billion (US$252 million) loss in Q2.

In a brief press announcement, HTC made some unspecific positive noises about its newer products. Its Desire line saw “good momentum” and the HTC One A9 was “well received” in Asia, the U.S. and Europe, we’re told. On a call with analysts, Chialin Chang, CFO and President of Global Sales, was more frank, admitting that sales of HTC’s flagship HTC One M9 “fell short of expectation” in 2015.

“You will find [that] the product portfolio is streamlined and matched with the right cost of doing business,” Chang said when asked what HTC plans to do differently this year.

In a bid to find that “right cost”, HTC implemented a series of restructuring initiatives in the latter part of 2015, which included laying off 15 percent of staff, and some costs related to that are still being felt. Chang said that one further quarter of expenditure from restructuring will happen, so improved financial results aren’t expected until HTC’s Q2 2016, the company CFO added.

HTC is putting a lot of emphasis on virtual reality (including its upcoming Vive product) and the Internet of things. Chang voiced his optimistic that efforts in VR and wearables — where it is working with Under Armor, and just launched its first product — “will be able to contribute to the bottom line in a meaningful way.” Aside from being ambiguous, it’s tough to know how VR will play out in the consumer space — and in terms of sales — but it is so nascent and unlike other productrs on the market. What is clear, however, is that 2015 was a disaster for HTC, and the company can’t afford a repeat this year.

Comments

What is your preferred smartphone screen size

Screen envy. We all have it. Or do we? See, that’s the thing, I’m just not so sure. One thing I am sure about is that our phone screens have gotten progressively bigger and bigger over the last few years. The funny thing is, we as a society have taken that ball and run with it, like we just don’t care. But I always thought we did care? Some time ago, when phones were in the sub-5” range, we used to have a term called “phablet” which described an almost absurdly big phone. The definition varied from person to person. I always considered a phone with a screen 5.5” or bigger to be a phablet. The Galaxy Note fell into that category. The Lumia 1520 certainly did. There are others as well. I was safely ensconced in the 4.5” area at the time with my Lumia 920. What did I know? Leon’s getting laaaaaaaarrrger But slowly, phones started topping the 5” mark. I’m not talking about phablets here, I’m talking about normal flagship phones – the Galaxy S4 (barely) and the HTC One (M7) are ...

Facebook Now Supports PGP To Send You Encrypted Emails

You can now instruct Facebook to encrypt every email it sends to you so nobody — not even the NSA — is likely to be able to read your messages anytime soon. All you have to do is import your public PGP key into your Facebook settings and you’re good to go. The problem here, of course, is that most people have no idea how public/private key email encryption works and how to even get started with it. In the wake of Edward Snowden’s leaks, a number of organizations, including Google, promised to completely hide the complexities of end-to-end email encryption from regular users. Very few of these products have materialized so far, however — not for lack of trying, but because this is actually a very complex problem, both from a technical and user experience perspective. Facebook uses the well-established PGP scheme (the GNU Privacy Guard implementation of OpenPGP, to be precise) to encrypt messages and tools lik...

Best Web Design Company in Pondicherry

#Technology has two faces. We all feel it, but sometimes can’t find words to describe it. #Ebooks are the best example to show the 0-1 nature of emotions the #technology evokes. #itwhere provide a #Best #solutions to #Growyourbusiness feel free to drop a #Mail info@itwheretech.co.in www.itwheretech.co.in

Facebook will verify the location of U.S. election ad buyers by mailing them postcards

Facebook’s global director of policy programs says it will start sending postcards by snail mail to verify buyers of ads related to United States elections. Katie Harbath, who described the plan at a conference held by the National Association of Secretaries of State this weekend, didn’t reveal when the program will start, but told Reuters that it would be before the Congressional midterm elections in November. The cards will be sent to people who want to purchase ads that mention candidates running for federal offices, but not issue-based political ads, Harbath said, and contain a code that buyers need to enter to verify that they are in the U.S. The program is similar to ones used by Google My Business and Nextdoor when they need to verify business owners or users who want to join closed neighborhood groups, respectively. Harbath told Reuters that the postcards “won’t solve everything,” but were the most effective method the company came up with to prevent people from using fa...

eGym raises $45M Series C for cloud-connected gym equipment and fitness software

eGym , the Munich-based startup that offers cloud-connected gym equipment and supporting cloud software and app for the fitness training floor, has closed $45 million in Series C funding. The round was led by new investor HPE Growth Capital, while existing investors, including Highland Europe, also participated. The problem that eGym is looking to solve is that, whilst gyms have moved from a bodybuilder market to a mass market in the last 20 years, the technology in gyms lags behind. That’s despite the fact that better use of technology can help to reduce customer churn, the biggest pain-point of both gym operator and gym users. Comprising of an app for both gym user and trainer, combined with the company’s connected strength machines, the eGym Cloud makes it possible for gym members to receive better fitness instruction and an evolving and personalised fitness plan based on data collected as they workout. And by providing a better workout feedback loop, gym goers can get an i...

Exciting Technology

Search This Blog