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Is HTC shelving scores of smartphones for 2013?

Samsung squeezing Taiwanese giant

Is HTC shelving scores of smartphones for 2013?
HTC has reportedly shelved the development of a number of new smartphone models it had planned for 2013 and downgraded its smartphone shipment growth forecasts.

That's according to DigiTimes, which - citing unnamed sources - claims HTC has revised its 2013 smartphone shipment growth predictions down from 20-30 percent to 10-15 percent.

Slice of the pie

If true, such a figure would represent a significant revision, but perhaps not an altogether surprising one.

Apple and Samsung are a duopoly that owns the lion's share of smartphone market share worldwide, and that's making life increasingly difficult for firms such as HTC, especially on Android.

Recent comScore figures for the UK bear this out, showing year-on-year increases in market share for Samsung and Apple, while RIM, HTC and Nokia see their slice of the market eroded.

And things are little better for HTC in the east. DigiTimes' sources claim that intense competition from local white-box smartphone vendors has forced HTC into the low-end of the market in China.

Nevertheless, the company will be hoping its recent partnership with Microsoft pays off, with the firm's handsets (below) chosen to front the Windows Phone 8 launch campaign.



[source: DigiTimes]
Staff Writer

PocketGamer.biz's news editor 2012-2013