HTC shrinks loss in Q4 but dark clouds linger
Embattled electronics maker HTC reported an operating loss of NT$3.6 billion on revenue of NT$22.2 billion for the quarter ended December 31, 2016.
For the final quarter of 2015, the company reported revenue of NT$25.7 billion and operating loss of NT$4.1 billion.
HTC said it had robust sales over the quarter, and had reduced its expenditure through an "enhanced resource realignment" to lower costs by one-third over 2016.
The company is still pinning its hopes on the success of its Vive virtual reality headset.
"I am pleased with the overall performance over the past year, with innovation triumphing in all of our focus product areas ... while we continue to enhance efficiencies across all key processes," chairwoman and CEO of HTC Cher Wang said in a statement. "We have learned much from our entrance into the world of virtual reality, and we believe our focused approach to building the ecosystem is the right strategy to enable the whole industry to expand through the creation of compelling content and rich experiences, and that our HTC Vive is at the forefront of that market."
Last week though, the company revealed its revenue for January was down 28 percent on its 2016 number, reporting NT$4.7 billion in 2017 compared to NT$6.5 billion a year prior.
Earlier this year, the company reported its total revenue for 2016 fell by over a third.
For 2016, HTC made NT$78.16 billion in revenue, compared to revenue of NT$121.68 billion in 2015. Throughout the year, only a single month had a higher revenue number than its 2015 counterpart.
Tuesday's numbers confirm that the company failed to post a quarterly profit in 2016, with HTC reporting operating losses of NT$4.8 billion, NT$4.2 billion, NT$2.0 billion, and NT$3.6 billion.
In January, the company announced its U Ultra and U Play devices.