The once-popular smartphone maker keeps falling.
Things aren’t getting any better for HTC. The Taiwanese smartphone maker on Friday said sales last month plunged 68 percent to NT$2.23 billion (US $72 million) compared with NT$6.9 billion in June 2017. It’s the company’s biggest slump in more than two years, reported Reuters.
The sales are just one more data point in a string of bad news for the beleaguered company that, despite posting a profit in its first quarter of 2018, had suffered 11 consecutive quarters of financial loss .
HTC on Monday said it will lay off 1,500 employees, or about 22 percent of its workforce, to cut costs and help it return to profitability, according to a tweet from Bloomberg’s Taipei bureau chief, Samson Ellis. HTC confirmed the layoffs, but declined to give specific numbers.
In 2012, HTC, which generates nearly all of its revenue from smartphones, was the No. 4 smartphone maker in the world, according to IDC. In 2014, it had dropped below Samsung, Apple, Xiaomi, Lenovo and LG. The company — known for making beautiful devices with big, bright screens and top-tier specs, is hoping early adopters will be drawn to its newest flagship, the HTC U12 Plus, which became available last month.
HTC didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
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