HTC’s latest financial results are out, and the struggling Taiwanese company is still struggling after posting a net loss of NT$4.5 billion ($139 million) on revenue of NT$21.4 billion ($660 million) for Q3 2015.
The company dropped back into the red in Q2, with a NT$5.1 billion net loss, following some very slimly profitable quarters. While the losses were somewhat reduced this past quarter, revenue was down seven percent quarter-on-quarter and more than 50 percent year-on-year.
Off the back of those consecutive losses, and a dismal year in general, HTC said it will no longer provide financial guidance for its business going forward. Speaking on an analyst call, Chialin Chang — CFO and president of global sales — said the decision was based on “the dynamic nature of this business year” and, he claimed, similar moves from other public companies in Taiwan. He added that HTC wants to avoid “side effects.”
Refusing to give sales targets, which investors and analysts thrive on, is a desperate measure that signals desperate times.
These latest losses were inevitable given that the company announced a restructuring program right after those Q2 2015 results. That included laying off 15 percent of staff, streaming other business operations and putting a focus on sexier devices — the first of which is the HTC One A9 launched this month.
It’s has been a dreadful year for HTC
Chang said in the last quarter that the company’s restructuring efforts wouldn’t bear fruit until early 2016, and he reiterated that once again today. But with the HTC One A9 bearing more than a passing resemblance to the iPhone, the HTC-Under Amor wearable delayed once again, and its promising VR product Vive still to debut, you once again have to wonder whether HTC has what it takes to turn things around.