Two of the biggest companies in the smartphone space are reporting very different results in their latest financial reports. Samsung posted record profits about $9.4 billion, while HTC lost about $101 million, marking the first time the company actually reported a quarterly loss.

HTC One and Samsung galaxy S4

To be fair, HTC is primarily a smartphone company while Samsung makes all sorts of consumer electronics. But while HTC’s last few phones have been lauded by critics for their design and performance, Samsung sells far more handsets than its rival.

Samsung’s shotgun approach probably doesn’t hurt: while HTC offers just a few handsets, Samsung seems to offer phones and tablets in nearly every size, shape, and price point imaginable.

The South Korean company also has a lot more money to spend on marketing than HTC, although HTC recently launched a high profile (and kind of inscrutable) $12 million TV ad campaign featuring Robert Downey Jr.

It’s probably too early to consider HTC down for the count. The company still produces some excellent hardware. But it’s becoming clear that these days that might not be enough.

Support Liliputing

Liliputing's primary sources of revenue are advertising and affiliate links (if you click the "Shop" button at the top of the page and buy something on Amazon, for example, we'll get a small commission).

But there are several ways you can support the site directly even if you're using an ad blocker* and hate online shopping.

Contribute to our Patreon campaign

or...

Contribute via PayPal

* If you are using an ad blocker like uBlock Origin and seeing a pop-up message at the bottom of the screen, we have a guide that may help you disable it.

Subscribe to Liliputing via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 9,547 other subscribers

2 replies on “HTC posts first-ever loss, Samsung announces record profits”

  1. I like HTC hardware, but 1°/ the new HTC has a non-removable battery (I will never buy a phone with a non-removable battery), and 2°/ they don’t support their hardware long-term (my HTC Desire HD can perfectly work with Android 4, but HTC just cancelled the upgrade plans because “it would be a bad consumer experience”…). HTC should understand that planned obsolescence effectively leads to “a bad consumer experience” !

  2. this is what they get for screwing over the consumer they will release the phone but stop supporting it after a paltry 9 months plus their stock roms are so battery intensive.

Comments are closed.