14 DAY TRIAL // HTC’s Android-based HTC One smartphone has been plagued with component supply shortages since before being officially brought to shelves, which affected its initial sales figures, but it seems that things are taking a turn for the better.
According to J.P. Morgan, the production of this smartphone is no longer affected by such issues, and shipment volumes are expected to grow shortly, which should help the company a lot.
The analyst firm believes that HTC One will indeed help the handset vendor turn the tables in its favor, and doubled its target price for the company’s stock based on this.
“We have previously said that the new ‘One’ is HTC's last chance for a turnaround -- we now think HTC has done enough to at least see a mini-turnaround,” J.P. Morgan analyst Alvin Kwock wrote in a note to clients, Focus Taiwan reports.
Supplies for the HTC One are said to have seen a significant improvement during the past two weeks, which suggests that the company might see an increase of over 50 percent in revenue in the second quarter of the year, when compared to the previous three-month period.
HTC One shipments were estimated at 300,000 units in March, but should increase to 1.2 million in April, while set to grow to over 2 million in May, the analyst said.
Of course, the new Android-based mobile phone from HTC will still have to face an increased competition on the market, as Samsung’s Galaxy S4 is getting ready to arrive on shelves before the end of this month, especially if Apple will indeed launch its long rumored low-cost iPhone model this year.
Sales of HTC One were hurt by delays of up to one month in certain key markets, the research firm believes, noting that the near launch of Galaxy S4 leaves only a small window of opportunity for HTC’s flagship Android smartphone.