HTC announced impressive yearly earnings and quarterly earnings for the last quarter of 2010. The handset manufacturer shipped 9.1 million handsets in Q4 2010, a figure that is up 163% year over year and up significantly from the 6.1 million shipped in Q3 2010. Revenue exceeded original guidance and rose 153% year over year to climb to NT$104 billion.
Yearly, the Taiwanese manufacturer shipped 24.6 million handsets in 2010, up 111% year over year from the 11.7 million units shipped in 2009. Revenue and Net profit also increased 93% and 75% year over year, respectively. North America was a lucrative market for HTC with 50.6% of its yearly 2010 revenue coming from that geographic region.
Looking forward, HTC expects these impressive numbers to continue. The manufacture is planning to ship 8.5 million unit in Q1 2011, up 157% yoy. Revenue is also projected to increase 147% year over year. To keep up with demand, the Taiwanese manufacturer is doubling production at its Shanghai factory to two million handsets each month.
Much of its portfolio in 2011 will be bolstered by the continued rollout of high-speed 4G networks. HTC already confirmed the Thunderbolt, a 4G LTE handset for Verizon, and the Inspire 4G, a HSPA+ handset for AT&T. Additional 3G and 4G mobile phones may be introduced at the upcoming Mobile World Conference slated to kickoff February 14th in Barcelona, Spain.
In a Q&A after the earnings conference call, Peter Chou confirmed that HTC is developing a tablet device to compete with other popular tablets including the iPad and the Samsung Galaxy Tab. The Taiwanese manufacturer is proceeding cautiously into the tablet market
“It’s a new market with many competitors, and we don’t want to rush into it,” Peter Chou, HTC’s chief executive, said. “We hope the product we eventually unveil will be one that meets consumers’ needs.”
Though the executive did not reveal any details on this slate device, a recent rumor out of Digitimes suggests the HTC tablet is codenamed the Flyer and will debut in March with Android 2.3. It was described in the rumor as an oversize HTC Desire.
[Via HTC (PDF)]