Thanks to an Apple injunction that delayed the release of new handsets in the U.S., rival company HTC is struggling with disappointing sales in Europe. HTC expects profits to have fallen 57 percent in the second quarter for a net profit of $247.7 million in the June quarter, which is less than half of what the company earned in the same period a year earlier.
According to Reuters, HTC blames poor economic conditions in Europe for the disappointing sales, as well as shipping delays of new phones when they were held up at U.S. customs for inspection after Apple’s injunction for infringing patents.
While HTC struggles, another Apple rival, Samsung, is expecting too see record breaking profits from the June quarter. Surpassing its previous record of 5.85 trillion from the first quarter of this year, Samsung expects to see profits of 6.7 trillion ($5.9 billion) in the three-month span.
Apple and Samsung are smartphone competitors, but HTC can’t seem to keep up. In April, HTC announced that its pre-tax profits fell by almost 70 percent, while total sales fell by almost a third.
HTC is hoping, though, that its newest One X smartphone will once again make the company competitive in the smartphone market. The One X smartphone is an Android-powered device that features 4.7-inch 720p high definition display, with a 1.6 gigahertz dual-core processor and 4G LTE high-speed data connectivity.
It’s hard to know who has the best sales between Apple and Samsung because Samsung does not provide such data. Apple does announce its own quarterly earnings report, with the next one announcing its June quarter on Tuesday, July 24, at 2pm Pacific, 5pm Eastern.
Source: Reuters via Apple Insider
Image Credit: Apple Insider
