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

SoftBank Lands $236M From Alibaba And Foxconn To Bring Its Pepper Robot To The World

Remember Pepper, the intelligent robot that SoftBank unveiled last year ? Pepper goes on sale in Japan this coming weekend, but in advance of that launch SoftBank has revealed that Alibaba and manufacturer Foxconn have invested $118 million each in its robotics division. That deal will give Alibaba and Foxconn 20 percent shares in SoftBank Robotics Holdings (known as SBRH), with SoftBank retaining a dominant 60 percent stake. “SoftBank, Alibaba and Foxconn will build a structure to bring Pepper and other robotics businesses to global markets, and cooperate with the aim of spreading and developing the robotics industry on a worldwide scale,” SoftBank said in its announcement. SoftBank isn’t short on money, of course — it is building up quite a portfolio of e-commerce investments across Asia — but its two partners bring know-how, strategy and global networks to the table. So, it looks like Pepper has eventual world domination plans. Or, at least, ...

LeafLink Raises $750K To Become Salesforce For The Cannabis Industry

LeafLink , an NY-based wholesale management platform for the cannabis industry, has closed a $750k seed round led by group of NY angel investors. The software platform is designed to support participants in a B2B supply chain, providing basic tools designed to save money for retailers and allow producers to get better pricing for their product. These tools will include a centralized location to view correspondence between buyers and suppliers, inventory and order tracking tools, and a portal to discover new products and services so users can source leads and close deals from within the platform. Founders Ryan Smith and Zach Silverman explained that they “believe cannabis regulation and distribution is moving toward mimicking the alcohol industry with regional distributors and nonsensical supply chain participants”. By focusing on creating a supply chain similar to the alcohol industry, the company hopes to eventually be the universally accepted way for buyer...

Apple to release new small phone before iPhone 7

Apple to release new small phone before iPhone 7 Apple is to create a smaller, cheap version of the iPhone, persistent to the 4 inch size of the iPhone 5. Apple is testing 5 different iPhone 7 models. It will sell next to Apple’s existing phones however mark the first time that Apple has ready a latest phone smaller than the one it locate on sale before. There will be the choice of 2 or three colours likely the gold, space grey and silver options that mainly Apple products now coming up. Other than inside there will be very much better components. The flagship improve will be the addition of the A9 chip that powers the iPhone 6S. There may also be a number of changes to the outside. The most able to be seen is apt to be the addition of the somewhat curved edges that are found on the iPhone 6 and 6S. careinfo.in Apple dropped the iPhone 5C previous this year. A number of hoped that it would be replaced by a 6C, though reports at the time made clear that we...

Party Like It’s 2003 As PlayStation 2 Emulation Is Coming To PlayStation 4

If you’re into big pixels, Sony has a treat for you. The company has secretly been working on a fully functioning PlayStation 2 emulator for the PlayStation 4. It is taking advantage of this emulator for classic PS2 Star Wars games. But the company also confirmed to Wired that it is working on bringing more PS2 games to the PS4. You can buy a Star Wars Battlefront bundle that comes with a PlayStation 4, EA’s latest Star Wars game and a bunch of old games — Super Star Wars, Star Wars: Racer Revenge, Star Wars: Jedi Starfighter, and Star Wars: Bounty Hunter. Eurogamer tried these games and got a nice surprise. These games weren’t updated for the PlayStation 4. Instead, they run inside a PlayStation 2 emulator. You’ll find much of the PlayStation 2’s classic iconography starting with the start and select buttons, virtual memory cards and the good old PlayStation 2 logo when you boot these games. It also means that there will be a lot of upscaling and things...

Intel announces the first 14 nanometre processor

At the Computex conference in Taipei, chipmaker Intel has revealed a fanless mobile PC reference design using the first of its next-generation 14nm "Broadwell" processors. The 2 in 1 pictured here is a 12.5" screen that is just 7.2 mm thick with keyboard detached and weighs 670 grams. The Surface Pro 3 – for comparison – is 9.1 mm thick and weighs 800 grams. It includes a media dock that provides additional cooling for a burst of performance. The next-generation chip is purpose-built for 2 in 1s and will hit the market later in 2014 . Called the Intel Core M, it will be the most energy-efficient Intel Core processor in the company's history with power usage cut by up to 45 percent, resulting in 60 percent less heat. The majority of designs based on this new chip are expected to be fanless, with up to 32 hours of battery life, offering both a lightning-fast tablet and razor-thin laptop. Intel is also delivering innovation and performance for the ...

Exciting Technology

Search This Blog