HTC predicts 20-30% increase in revenue for 2008

CFO of High Tech Computer (HTC) Huei-ming Cheng said yesterday that he expects HTC’s revenues to grow 20-30% in 2008 compared to the previous year. Revenues will be boosted by the company’s plans to launch a series of new products in the second quarter of this year.

Cheng added that revenues for the first quarter of this year will continue to grow at an annual rate of 35% - which is actually a 15-20% drop from the previous quarter. The fourth quarter of 2007 saw total revenues for the company reach NT$39billion (US$1.21 billion), with an increase of 34.7% compared to the same period in the previous year.

HTC shipped a total of 9.92 million mobile devices in 2007, slightly below their target of 10 million. However, this still represents a 3.7% rise in shipping numbers compared to 2006. Average selling price was also up 7.9%.

HTC’s new handset models are a venture away from its current Touch series. They will initially focus on models that support the 3G standard, following these with EDGE-compliant models for the emergent market.