Motorola, HTC Stocks Tank in Q1

HTC had braced itself for a cautious 2010 in terms of revenue; instead, the company is concentrating on overall market share of both Android and Windows Mobile devices. Motorola, on the other hand, is pinning its hopes almost entirely on smartphone sales in America and China.

Motorola’s stock sank 12%, and this comes after it sold over 2 million smartphones in Q4 of last year. Since the company is focusing on Android development, with many new higher end models such as the rumored Shadow, investors are wary, especially in light of the ongoing Chinese/Google battle. Motorola is launching its own app store, Shop4Apps, which could lead to a big turnaround for the corporation. Interestingly, Motorola has also confirmed that a Google branded phone is in the works. I wonder how this collaboration will pan out since Motorola has announce Shop4Apps and partnership with Baidu.

Meanwhile, HTC was projecting “1Q revenue…at the range from NT$32bn to NT$34bn,” which is much lower than the previous quarter. Accordingly, HTC’s stocks fell for the second consecutive day. With many new smartphones in the pipeline and an aggressive advertising campaign, HTC’s profile should rise in North America this year. Also, with most manufacturers (LG, Samsung, and Motorola) phasing out their involvement with Windows Mobile, and HTC continuing to supply plenteous support for Microsoft’s dying OS, HTC’s will have less competition in this segment.