HTC smartphone profits fall 58%

HTC is struggling to keep competitive with smartphone rivals including Apple

Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC has reported a 58% fall in net profit to 7.4bn Taiwanese dollars (US$248m) in the three months ending in June.

In June, the group cut its forecast by revenue by 13% and warned it would make lower profits for each handset it sold.

Second quarter revenue of 91bn Taiwanese dollars was worse-than-expected.

HTC sells most of its phones in Asia's developing economies at the lower, less profitable end of the market.

The news came on the same day Korean rival Samsung Electronics posted record second-quarter earnings largely due to the success of its Galaxy smartphone.

HTC's chief executive, Peter Chou, hopes the planned launch of new models in the second half of this year will help sales and profits to rebound.