UPDATED: HTC expects decline in Q4 revenue

HTC said it expects to see its revenue in the fourth quarter decline by as much as 15 percent, as competition in the smartphone market intensifies. The drop is not entirely unexpected; earlier this year the Taiwanese company made a drastic about-face in its 2009 forecast and said it expected revenue for the year to fall by a low to mid-single digit percent, a forecast it reiterated today. 

The smartphone maker, which recently began a multi-million dollar advertising campaign to raise its brand awareness, said it now expects revenue in the fourth quarter to be between $1.23 billion and $1.3 billion, down from $1.45 billion in the year ago quarter. 

The new forecast comes as HTC is trying to recover from a weak third quarter, in which revenue declined 10 percent. The company said that its gross profit margin will likely be 32.5 percent, up slightly from the third quarter, and that operating expenses are likely to eat up 17 percent of its total revenue.

In the third quarter, the smartphone market had its best quarter ever, according to research firms IDC and Canalys. However, intense competition from Nokia, Apple and Research In Motion has hampered HTC's growth.

For more:
- see this IntoMobile article
- see this IDG News Service article
- see this Reuters article
- see this Reuters article

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Article updated Nov. 9 to correct revenue figures.