Asia’s second-largest maker of smartphones, HTC, has posted its biggest drop in profit since listing a decade ago after sales declined amid competition from Apple and Samsung.

First-quarter net income was 4.46 billion Taiwanese dollars (€115 million), the company said, a 70 per cent drop from a year earlier, and below estimates. The smart- phone maker “dropped the ball” on new products during the fourth quarter, HTC chief financial officer Winston Yung said in February.

Meanwhile, Samsung has posted record quarterly profit of $5.15 billion (€3.93 billion), driven by booming sales of its smartphones and the Galaxy Note. The Note – part phone, part mini-tablet – has sold more than five million units since launching in October and is proving a surprise money earner for the South Korean electronics giant. – (Bloomberg, Reuters)