Back in 2010, HTC was one of the top smartphone makers in the world, accounting for one in every ten smartphones sold.
After years of strong market performance, the Taiwanese phone maker is in a tight spot, facing stiff competition from Apple, Samsung and other handset makers. Last week, it reported worse-than-expected results for Q4FY13. Though the sale of its remaining 25% stake in Beats Electronics for $265 million helped the company avoid its second-consecutive quarterly loss, it appears that despite aggressive cost-cutting measures—buying chips from cheaper vendors, outsourcing production etc—the handset maker’s troubles are far from over. The company’s global share of the smartphone market has declined to 2.2% in the third quarter of 2013, from a peak of 10.3% only two years ago.
