While HTC has had its many financial woes over the years, analysts are betting that HTC will see a boost in revenues starting in March and through the second quarter based on its new HTC U Play and HTC U Ultra models that have begun shipping to the UK, China, and India. Soon, Spain, Germany, France, Canada, and the US will start selling the U Ultra device, adding to HTC’s coffers. This revenue increase is not unusual when a company releases a new model, especially when their largest competitor, Samsung, has not yet officially announced their new Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus, which they are expected to do on March 29, with sales to begin sometime in April.
If HTC wants to grow their business, DigiTime’s sources say they must make their mark in March and April, before the new Samsung, Sony, and LG devices are released. While the HTC U models are receiving favorable reviews, once Samsung’s marketing hits the streets, people will divert their attention to the new Galaxy S models, which have a larger display and are sure to have a more advanced processor, GPU, larger battery, and wireless charging. The new LG G6 will use the same Snapdragon 821 processor as the HTC U Ultra and has the same sized display, it does have dual cameras, better audio, a larger battery, and wireless charging. This why HTC needs to be ready to deliver and push their new HTC U Ultra as fast and as much as they can, while the market is theirs.
Later this year the new iPhone and models from the Chinese manufacturers will hit the markets and suck up sales from most other models. February revenues for HTC posted at $150.36 million US dollars, about what they were in January and up 11.2-percent from February 2016. Analysts say that HTC needs to see a 30-percent boost in sales, equal to about $194 million US dollars if they really expect to finish 2017 with a good year. HTC is planning to launch its first VR device near the end of the year; however, the analysts are not sure if their VR device will really help increase HTC smartphone sales. It would be a much better situation if HTC could release both the new HTC U Play and U Ultra at the same time and possibly draw sales from both devices.