HTC announced fiscal third quarter results. The information was good for HTC but not good for rival smartphone firm, Blackberry maker Research In Motion (NASDAQ: RIMM).
HTC said revenue more than doubled to $4.3 billion. The news about its shipments, which hit 11 million in the period, was just as important. It is more evidence of the success of Google’s (NASDAQ: GOOG) Android-OS, which by many measures is the dominant operating system for smartphones. The results also indicate that HTC’s move into 4G-enabled products has been a success as carriers like AT&T Wireless and Verizon Wireless rolled out super-fast wireless broadband.
RIM Blackberry handsets run on a propriety software system that isolates it from mainstream developers who often do not have the resources to create apps beyond those that work on the Apple (NASDAQ: AAPL) iOS and Android. RIM’s insistence on maintenance of it own platform is a major factor in the company’s failure.
RIM shipped 13.2 million Blackberry smartphones in its last fiscal quarter. HTC monthly shipments will almost certainly pass RIM’s quarterly shipments by the end of the year. RIM will have fallen behind another competitor.
Douglas A. McIntyre
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