HTC begins 2013 with more forecasts of tumbling revenues: Q1 sales could drop by up to 17%

HTC has begun 2013 as it spent much of 2012, forecasting a drop in revenue. The Taiwanese phone maker HTC posted its lowest quarter of profit for 8 years when it revealed its fourth quarter financial results this month, but now it expects things to worsen further still.

The company is expecting its revenue for the first quarter to between flat and 17 percent lower than the previous quarter, while margins will also remain flat to low.  Increased competition with Samsung, Apple, Huawei, ZTE and other phone makers is expected to see it bring in $1.69-$2.03 billion (T$50-60 billion) for the three-month period, that’s some way down the $T65.75 billion from the first quarter of 2012 and level, at best, with its Q4 2012.

Last year, the company made just $133 million in profit during the third quarter, down 79 percent on a year prior, and it spent much of the year warning of dwindling income levels.

The company has a new chief marketing officer, who has quite a daunting job ahead of him. The firm’s One series of Android-based devices was well received but failed to make an impression on consumers. Marketing appears to be just one of a number of problems for the company, this year may not be kind on HTC unless it can somehow reinvent its fortunes.

That attempt at reinvention will begin this month when a new device is unveiled at a launch event on February 19. That’s speculated to be the 5-inch M7, though HTC has also confirmed it will release phones with larger screens during the course of the year.

Image via johnkarakatsanis/ Flickr