HTC profits down 26%

Taiwan smartphone maker HTC has reported a 26% drop in profits in the final quarter of last year as the weak global economy and intense competition hit sales.HTC said profits amounted to 10.9 billion New Taiwan dollars (€282m) - on revenue of 101 billion New Taiwan dollars (€2.65bn) – in the three months ending December.HTC forecast today that revenue could further drop to 70 billion New Taiwan dollars (€1.8bn) in the first quarter this year.The company blamed the slowdown on the lacklustre sales of its newly launched high-end smartphones amid increased competition from Apple and South Korea’s Samsung.