Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC is having some serious financial troubles, and they don’t appear to be getting much better. Three months ago, HTC reported its first quarterly loss in company history, and today it narrowly managed to avoid making that two losses in a row. Today, for the fourth quarter of 2013, HTC reported net profit of only NT$310 million (about $10.3 million) on revenue of NT$42.9 billion (about $1.4 billion). But that $10 million profit doesn’t necessarily represent a change in the company’s fortunes, because it counts the roughly $85 million one-time profit that the company made when it sold its last remaining shares of Beats Audio. According to Reuters, the Beats transaction would have been figured into the calculations for the fourth quarter.
HTC narrowly avoids second quarterly loss by selling Beats stake
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How To Collapse: do slumping sales and an executive exodus spell doom for HTC?
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is a senior editor and founding member of The Verge who covers gadgets, games, and toys. He spent 15 years editing the likes of CNET, Gizmodo, and Engadget.
HTC has seen a number of senior executives leave in recent months, but it’s putting on a brave face in public. The company has denied reports that it shut down factories to save money. It also says that marketing is its biggest challenge and it recently ran a reportedly expensive ad campaign starring Robert Downey Jr.
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