Reuters informs us that the HTC, the world’s number 4 smartphone brand has lowered its 2009 revenue forecast, because of the fall in unit shipments and the delay in the launch of new products.
HTC CEO Peter Chou claims that the company’s momentum won’t be as strong as he had hoped for, although the smartphone maker has quite a bunch of mid-tier device to launch. HTC will increase its operating budget to 15% in 2009, 1.5% more than in 2008, so that means we’ll see a more aggressive marketing campaign, in order to compete with Apple and Nokia’s products.
As far as we know, the gross profit margin in Q3 and the full year should reach 32%, as HTC’s competitors have also been hit by the depression. Pressure is on for the likes of HTC, Nokia and RIM, as PC makers like Acer enter the market, or companies like Gigabyte or Toshiba ready killer smartphones.
[via Reuters]
