HTC said that its phones have passed inspection by U.S. customs officials and are now headed to U.S. consumers, giving the Taiwanese smartphone maker some breathing space as it seeks to revive momentum in its U.S. business.
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HTC One X for AT&T |
Previously, some HTC phones, including its flagship Evo 4G LTE for Sprint Nextel (NYSE:S) and One X for AT&T Mobility (NYSE:T), were held up at customs as officials verified that they were in compliance with a ruling from the U.S. International Trade Commission. The ITC ruled that HTC had violated an Apple patent that covers the ability to convert clicking on phone numbers and email addresses into actionable links on smartphones. HTC said it was developing a workaround to the patent for its phones.
HTC said in a statement that its phones "met International Trade Commission standards and imports to the U.S. would proceed according to normal processes."
The One X and Evo 4G LTE faced an import delay on May 15 for potentially infringing on an Apple (NASDAQ:AAPL) patent. HTC said that "future shipments should continue to enter the U.S." and that it is "confident that we will soon be able to meet the demand for our products."
An unnamed HTC official told Dow Jones Newswires that future HTC shipments into the United States will continue to be expected, but declined to say whether the latest approval means future inspections will proceed more quickly.
HTC is banking on its One series as well as flagship devices like the Evo 4G LTE at Sprint and Droid Incredible 4G LTE Verizon Wireless (NYSE:VZ) to help its buoy its fortunes in the U.S. market. In the first quarter, HTC reported an overall 70 percent drop in profit, down to $151.5 million, its lowest quarterly net profit since 2006. Revenue also dipped 35 percent in the quarter, down to $2.29 billion.
For more:
- see this Dow Jones Newswires article (sub. req.)
- see this Reuters article
- see this The Verge article
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