n its financial statements released on Wednesday, HTC reported that revenues dropped 79.3 percent in March to NT$4.11 billion, a record low in 11 years.
In fact, the smartphone maker has seen its sales plummet in the first three months of 2016.
The company is expected to suffer financial loss in the January-March period as no flagship products were released in the first quarter. Institutional investors forecast a NT$2 loss per share overall.
In January, HTC pulled in NT$6.47 billion, a 47-percent annual decline. The company ran an operating loss of NT$1.25 billion in the month. After factoring in NT$173 million in non-operating revenues, it registered a net loss of NT$1.22 billion.
HTC collected NT$4.2 billion in February, falling 54 percent year-on-year. The company logged an operating loss of NT$1.52 billion. It was able to recoup NT$2.36 billion in non-operating revenues, however, after liquidating real estate and buildings located in Taoyuan, contributing to a net income of NT$824 million.
From January to March the company's consolidated revenues totaled NT$14.82 billion, marking a 64.31-percent plunge compared with the same period last year.
HTC Vive to Reverse the Figure
The smartphone maker launched its latest virtual reality innovation HTC Vive on April 5.
HTC Chairwoman and CEO Cher Wang had expressed confidence of the company's future prospects. Performance will improve "quarter by quarter," she said.
The underperformance seems to be in line with HTC executives' expectations. Chief Financial Officer Chang Chia-lin (張嘉臨) had said that there would be no flagship products contributing to sales in the first quarter.
Contributions will begin in the second quarter. Hopefully this year will be different, with sales bottoming out in the first quarter, Chang said.
Next Flagship Product
HTC is due to unveil its next flagship product on April 12, widely expected by the market to be the HTC 10. It will be simultaneously launched in New York, London and Taiwan. For the first time on the island, the product launch ceremony will be held in Tainan.
In its promotional video, the company says the new product will feature "the best BoomSound yet."
Catching the momentum of HTC Vive, which hit global markets on Tuesday, the share price of HTC performed relatively well in the tumbling stock market yesterday. It rose to the NT$90 mark at one point while the weighted index on the Taiwan Stock Exchange closed down 144.25 points. HTC dipped 1.82 percent.
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