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‘Inferior products’ to blame for weak HTC sales in Q4, Citigroup says

Updated Dec 19th, 2018 7:36PM EST
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HTC cut its fourth-quarter guidance for the second time earlier this week, sending shares of the company’s stock to their lowest point in more than a year. The Taiwan-based smartphone vendor cut revenue estimates by roughly 23% for the fourth quarter as steep competition from Samsung, Apple and other companies will seemingly make HTC’s run at the top short-lived. But pent up demand for a new iPhone and Samsung’s ongoing charge are only half of the equation according to two Citigroup analysts. HTC’s weak fourth quarter is “driven more by inferior product than by macro reasons,” analysts Kevin Chang and Jonathan Gu wrote in a research note earlier this week according to Bloomberg. “We are most surprised by the lack of visibility and by how fast things deteriorate in the smartphone business.” Chang and Gu cut their price target on HTC stock to NT$463, dropping their earlier Buy rating to Neutral.

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Zach Epstein
Zach Epstein Executive Editor

Zach Epstein has been the Executive Editor at BGR for more than 10 years. He manages BGR’s editorial team and ensures that best practices are adhered to. He also oversees the Ecommerce team and directs the daily flow of all content. Zach first joined BGR in 2007 as a Staff Writer covering business, technology, and entertainment.

His work has been quoted by countless top news organizations, and he was recently named one of the world's top 10 “power mobile influencers” by Forbes. Prior to BGR, Zach worked as an executive in marketing and business development with two private telcos.