Korean-based Samsung Electronics bested Taiwanese rival HTC Corp in the smartphone race, pushing HTC to its first quarterly loss ever.
Samsung’s record operating profit in the third quarter rose to $9.4 billion, thanks to offering smartphones at every price point in emerging markets, like China. Samsung also gained as a result of selling memory chips to other phone manufacturers. HTC posted a $101 million loss, despite a marketing deal with Robert Downey, Jr. and a focus on the HTC One phone.
Samsung sells at least 40 smartphone models, compared to HTC’s 25 smartphone models. Samsung benefited by the launch of a low-cost version of the Galaxy series phones in the Middle East, while the HTC One phone suffered delays due to a shortage of components.
HTC is considering a deal with Microsoft to install Windows operating system on Android phones. More information is at Bloomberg Businessweek: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-03/samsung-profit-beats-estimates-on-cheaper-galaxy-smartphones.html