HTC May Benefit From Problems of Rivals

Taipei, Aug. 16, 2012 (CENS)--HTC, Taiwan’s leading smart-phone maker, may be able to overcome its business bottleneck, as Samsung is being haunted by storm of “sweatshop” in mainland China and Apple is being troubled by the shortage of power amplifier and other components for its iPhone 5.

Shipment of iPhone 5 components and parts has begun. The new-generation iPhone features major changes in product design and appearance and embraces many new components and parts. The problem is complicated by the failure of some components to reach standard yield rate.

Institutional investors noted that initially, sales of Samsung Galaxy S3 were buffeted by inferior design for its back cover.

Apple’s iPhone 5 will be launched on September 12, as scheduled. However, affected by bad yield rates of some components, iPhone 5 may be sold only in the U.S. and some West European nations initially and could not be supplied in large amount.

Market players said that Apple substitutes in-cell panel for traditional touch panels, in order to make the screen of iPhone 5 thinner. However, panels and power amplifier have reportedly encountered problem in yield rate. There is also concern for the assembly of iPhone 5. These problems may affect the initial shipment of iPhone 5.

JPMorgan Chase pointed out that supply of components and parts will affect the shipment of iPhone 5 in the fourth quarter. The most serious problem now is the shortage of in-cell, followed by the shortage of cases.

Meanwhile, Chinese media reported that a contract Chinese manufacturer of Samsung hired seven child workers aged under 16, with working conditions even worse than Apple suppliers. Mismanagement of the incident will impact sales of Samsung in mainland China and its global image.

While its major rivals Samsung and Apple are being haunted by negative news, HTC is making steady inroads into the mainland Chinese market. In the second quarter, it grasped a 6% share of China’s smart-phone market, up 130% over 2.6% in the first quarter. HTC will expand its sales network and R&D center in China to further augment its market share there.