Taiwanese handset maker HTC has announced that its Q4 net profit fell 31% year-on-year, as the vendor suffered from intensifying market competition.
The company recorded a net profit of TW$5.58 billion (€121 million), compared to profit of NT$8.1 billion a year ago. The result also missed analysts' expectations of NT$7.18 billion, according to Reuters.
Revenue fell 13.2% to NT$41.08 billion, squarely in the middle of the company's forecast that revealed in November.
For the full year, the company reported a net profit of NT$22.65 billion, from revenue of NT$144.89 billion.
But the company's fortunes were showing signs of improving by the end of the year, when HTC reported its first year-on-year profit growth since July.
HTC's development of Google's recently-launched Nexus One handset may also help to reverse the company's ill fortunes, analysts said.
Macquarie Securities has predicted that HTC could ship two million Nexus Ones this year. But Citigroup has warned that HTC could accrue lower profit margins from the handset – and its lower price relative to most of HTC's current smartphone offerings could also serve to drive down prices across HTC's range.