Following speculation since March of weaker-than-hoped-for sales by HTC of its flagship One M9 smartphone, rumors are spreading that the Taiwanese company has just cut component orders for the phone by ~30%.
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HTC has just released its lowest revenue figures for the month of April in 6 years, attributable to lackluster sales of the new flagship HTC One M9, according to an analyst from Yuanta Securities Investment Consulting Co.
The company’s consolidated revenue was NT$13.5 billion (US$440 million) in April, down 38 percent year-over-year from NT$22.07 a year earlier. This figure is also down 33 percent from promising revenue of NT$20.02 billion posted only the month prior, in March. This is HTC’s lowest monthly revenue for April since 2009’s result of NT$11.4 billion.
Just as Apple launched a plastic iPhone, Samsung is reputedly planning a switch to a metal case for the Samsung S5 due to replace the S4 next year.
Taiwan’s Taipei Times cites supply-chain sources as saying that Samsung has been making enquiries about an order for up to 30 million metal cases for the 2014 version of its flagship handset. To add to the irony, Barclays analysts suggested that one of the manufacturers which may be in line for the contract is the same one that makes metal cases for both iPad and MacBook Pro.
Our checks suggest Catcher has been qualified as one of the major sources on the total metal casing smartphone volumes at 10 [million to] 30 million next year from Samsung. The final order allocation is to be confirmed in early first quarter 2014, subject to price bids by approved vendors.
Interestingly, a metal case would seem to rule out any plans by Samsung to take full advantage of its flexible display.
Via Gizmodo