HTC Q2 profit plunges 83 percent

Taiwan smartphone maker HTC said Friday that net profit in April-June dived 83 percent year on year, although it was a slight improvement from the record low seen in the previous three months.

The result comes as the firm struggles to turn things around with its high-end HTC Onesmartphone and heavier marketing strategy.

Unaudited net profit in the second quarter came in at Tw$1.25 billion ($41.67 million), compared with Tw$7.4 billion a year ago but up sharply from the Tw$85 million in January-March, the company said.

Revenue fell 22 percent to Tw$70.7 billion year-on-year but surged 65 percent from quarter to quarter and was line with its own forecast of Tw$70.0 billion.

Chief executive officer Peter Chou predicted a sharp rise in second-quarter revenue thanks to the HTC One, which he said had received "overwhelmingly positive" reviews since its launch in February.

He hailed it as a "technological breakthrough" as the company battles to win a piece of the sector that is dominated by Apple's iPhone and Samsung's Galaxy S4. However, analysts suggest sales of the phone peaked in May.

And the firm has a fight on its hands.

Research firm IDC said the company held a 4.6 percent share of the global smartphone market in 2012, a sharp decline from 8.8 percent a year earlier. Samsung held a 30.3 percent stake while Apple had 19.1 percent.

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