HTC: Stocks share slip not 'so serious'

Taiwanese phonemaker HTC reckons its recent poor stock market performances are not "so serious", and points to its plans to release "better and more competitive" handsets such as LTE phones for the U.S. market in 2012 as proof that its fortunes will rebound, Reuters said.

In a report published on Monday, the news wire pointed out that HTC has become the worst performer among global smartphone shares this year, with the company's stock falling over 30 percent in the last eight trading sessions alone. However, the Taiwanese company's chief financial officer, Winston Yung, said the situation is not "so serious".

He told Reuters: "We have six quarters of improvement, the most conservative guidance is 45 million units of shipments this year, a lot higher than 25 million last year."

Additionally, Yung said HTC will focus on its product offerings for 2012, making it "better and more competitive". Besides LTE handsets for the U.S. market, it will also introduce phones for the global market and launch some "worldwide flagship products". "We're confident in them," he stated.

The Taiwanese manufacturer had actually posted impressive figures in its third-quarter earnings report that was released on Nov. 1. It reported a 68 percent jump in profits to almost US$625 million and 79 percent surge in revenue to US$4.5 billion from the same quarter last year, due mainly to strong sales in China. During this same quarter, it sold 13.2 million devices, according to an earlier ZDNet Asia report.

That said, the company moved to dampen expectations for the fourth quarter, saying both revenue and shipments are expected to dip slightly or remain flat in the near future.