HTC's recovery hits another speedbump

HTC shares fall just as competitor announces new handsets
A new report reveals that HTC's recovery isn't going as smoothly as the Taiwanese company hoped.

A new report reveals that HTC's recovery isn't going as smoothly as the Taiwanese company hoped.

Following the news that a new chief financial officer had been hired, the company's shares tumbled by six percent on Tuesday.

Additionally, arch rival Samsung has moved up the London release of their flagship phone, the Samsung Galaxy S3, by a month. This could steal the thunder from the likes of the HTC One X and HTC One S handsets that just hit the market.

On Monday, HTC released a statement appointing Chia-Lin Chang as the company's new CFO, replacing Winston Yung, who remains with the company in corporate development.

Chang is a former Goldman Sachs partner in Taiwan whose resumé also includes a stint as an engineer at Motorola.

The company refused to cite a reason for the CFO swap, but analysts were quick to view the move in a positive light.

HTC's bumpy ride

After a period of rapid growth on the back of Google's Android platform through 2010 and early 2011, HTC hit a speed bump attempting to outwit Apple's iPhone and keep pace with Samsung's popular Galaxy smartphone line.

Ranked as the wold's fifth most popular cell phone maker, HTC's fortunes had a virtual free fall in the first quarter of 2012 with a 70 percent drop in net profits.

Now, Samsung may pose a threat to the company's revival efforts, which revolve around a trio of HTC One handsets introduced this month.

Rumors are swirling that Samsung will introduce a new Galaxy S3 imminently, which is likely to continue the Korean manufacturer's lucky streak with more than 40 million smartphones sold.

Via Reuters