HTC’s 2016 Revenue Hits 11-Year Low, While Huawei Grows Faster than Industry Average

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Earlier in 2016, before we knew about the Pixels, everyone was speculating on which OEM would be manufacturing the 2016 Nexus. Leaks pointed out that HTC was on track to produce not one, but two ‘Nexus’ phones for Google, replacing the top contender Huawei who had been Google’s choice for manufacturing the Nexus 6P.

But we all know how that played out. HTC manufactures the Pixel and Pixel XL, but does not feature any of its own branding on the devices (well, other than the battery), nor in their marketing and promotional materials. While HTC would not be getting brand image recognition from these phones, it would certainly benefit in the form of an additional revenue stream, albeit likely small. The latest reports indicate that this revenue stream may not be enough to help HTC’s financial balance sheet back in the green in 2016 indeed.

HTC saw its revenues dip 16.4% month-on-month, and 1.7% year-on-year in December 2016. This is worrying news when you consider that the year-on-year comparison figures are from the era of the fiery-hot HTC One M9, while this year saw HTC releasing the rather well-received HTC 10. Total revenues dipped to a five-month low of NT$6.41 Billion ($199.96 Million) in December.

For the year 2016, revenues totaled NT$78.16 Billion, which represents a decline of 35% from the past year. This is also the lowest annual figure in 11 years. Revenues for Q4 2016 reached NT$22.2 Billion, which the report claims is comparable to the amount recorded in the third quarter. The final figure on Earning per Share for Q4 2016 came out to be a net loss of NT$2.18, setting HTC on track to its seventh quarterly loss in a row.

Meanwhile, Huawei saw a better 2016, despite losing out on the Pixels.

A separate report mentions that Huawei shipped a total of 139 Million smartphones in 2016, which is an increase of 29% of 2015. This is far better than the industry-wide growth of 0.6% which had been expected for 2016.

Huawei’s total sales of all of its consumer product portfolio reached CNY178 Billion ($25.728 Billion), an increase of 42% year-on-year. Further, Huawei’s 2016 lineup has been well-received in the global market.

2017 is also looking good for Huawei. The company has reached ‘strategic cooperation agreements’ with Google and Amazon to step into the AR/VR industry. The report further states that Huawei will work with Google on Project Tango as well.

What are your thoughts on the present financial success of Huawei, and the lack thereof of HTC? Let us know in the comments below!