TrendForce: HTC 10 yearly production volume forecasted at just 1 million units

According to a report by TrendForce analyst Avril Wu, the total production volume of HTC’s flagship HTC 10 will hover around 1 million units, with an overall yearly production volume of just 13 million units. That figure is significantly less than last year’s yearly production mark of 18 million units, even with the assistance of an upcoming Google Nexus branded HTC smartphone for the second half of 2016.

However, a survey of its product portfolio suggests that smartphones are still the company’s core business. Due to strong competition from Chinese brands, the production volume of HTC’s latest flagship, the HTC 10, will only be around 1 million units. The Taiwanese brand will take on additional smartphone production in the second half of 2016 as a result of receiving manufacturing contracts for Nexus phones from Google.

The other major Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer, Asus, comparatively speaking, is thriving. Wu states that Asus is on track to produce 21.5 million units, much in part due to its decision to adopt Qualcomm Snapdragon SoC’s instead of using Intel silicon like in times past. In all, TrendForce expects a 34% increase over Asus’ 2015 smartphone production.

Obviously, units produced do not directly correlate to units sold, but it does paint broad strokes as to where each company is heading. Even if HTC were to sell every HTC 10 it’s predicted to produce, at only 1 million units, that has to be seen as a major disappointment.

It’s unfortunate, because the HTC 10 is a good phone. In our review, I praised its build quality among several other aspects that make the handset a solid flagship endeavor. Still, if HTC can’t even be the top dog on its own turf, it’s hard to see how the company can continue to compete in the global smartphone arena.