HTC posts record 79 percent profit drop

Taiwan's leading smartphone maker HTC said Monday its net profit in the three months to September tumbled 79.1 percent year on year as it faces stiffer competition from rivals like Apple and Samsung.

Net profits in the third quarter came in at Tw$3.9 billion ($133.1 million), down sharply from Tw$18.64 billion a year ago, the company said, without providing details.

Revenues totalled Tw$70.2 billion, meeting the lower side of the Tw$70 billion-Tw$80 billion range it had previously forecast. The revenues marked a sharp decline of 48 percent from a year ago when they were Tw$135.82 billion.

HTC sells its own smartphones and also makes handsets for a number of leading US companies, including Google's Nexus One.

The company has recently unveiled a new series of smartphones to compete with US technology giant Apple and South Korea's Samsung, which separately launched the iPhone 5 last month and the Galaxy Note II in late September.