HTC had a great month, but a bad year

HTC reported that the success of its One A9 handset and select sales to other devices during its Black Friday sale helped improve month-over-month revenue by 15 percent, but same-period sales are down some 39 percent from the same period a year earlier.

According to English-language media outlet Focus Taiwan, the company’s consolidated November sales were NT$10.29 billion ($422 million CAD), up 15 percent from the previous month, but the company’s year-to-date sales of NT$155.17 billion ($4.72 billion CAD) are down a troubling 33 percent from the same time in 2014.

HTC is, of course, trying to spin this short-term uptick as positively as possible. In a statement to MobileSyrup, the company said that “HTC America increased year-over-year sales on HTC.com by 731% during Black Friday/Cyber Monday,” which included sales made to Canadian customers. “The most notable Holiday Hot Deal offer was an HTC One A9 for as low as $0 with a qualifying trade-in. More than 10% of the customers who purchased were iPhone 6 or newer users,” the statement concluded, though Canadians weren’t eligible for the trade-in deal.

HTC’s direct-to-consumer strategy through its htc.com portal has certainly opened up new potential customers, and with the One A9 absent from Canadian carriers, the website is the only way to currently procure HTC’s latest flagship.

According to Chang Chia-lin, HTC’s chief financial officer, the company doesn’t expect to turn a profit in the coming quarter, but the positive impact of the One A9 should cut losses considerably. It remains to be seen, with a wider rollout of the One A9 and the impending consumer release of the HTC Vive, whether HTC can turn its hardware business around.

The company is expected to unveil its first smartwatch in February, according to reliable leaker, Evan Blass, and could release a co-branded digital scale with Under Armour early next year as well.