HTC shares climb to 1-mth high on Sprint Nextel deal
TAIPEI, Sept 4 (Reuters) - Shares of smartphone maker HTC (2498.TW) rose to a one-month high on Friday after U.S. telecom operator Sprint Nextel (S.N) said it planned to sell the firm's Hero cellphone based on Google's (GOOG.O) Android system. By 0316 GMT, HTC shares were up almost 6 percent at T$367.00
($11.15), its strongest intraday level since Aug. 3.
"It's a reflection of the market's approval of HTC's diversification policy," said Kevin Huang, a fund manager at King's Town Bank. "Put together with its recent tie-up with China Mobile, it's likely the firm might do well this quarter."
Sprint will start selling HTC's Hero smartphone from Oct. 11, pitting it up against rivals such as Palm's PALM.O Pre smartphone and an upcoming Motorola MOT.N model. [nN03458054]
HTC shares have come under pressure since August, when it unexpectedly announced a drastic cut to its full-year revenue outlook, which it blamed on worse-than-expected momentum in its smartphone models. [nTP127931]
To counter the slump, the firm said then it would be diversifying into lower-cost models on top of the premium smartphones it is best-known for.
Recent announcements of deals with top telecom operators such as China Mobile (0941.HK) have given its share price a boost in recent days, while a company share buyback has provided further support. [nTP278444]
HTC is the world's fourth-largest smartphone maker, ranking behind Nokia (NOK1V.HE), Blackberry maker Research In Motion (RIM.TO) (RIMM.O) and Apple (AAPL.O).
(Reporting by Kelvin Soh, Editing by Jacqueline Wong)
((kelvin.soh@thomsonreuters.com; +886 2 2508 0815; Reuters Messaging: kelvin.soh.reuters.com@reuters.net)
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