Q2 smartphone season looking ominous for HTC and Samsung

Taiwanese smartphone specialist HTC has confirmed Q2 revenues were at the bottom end of its lowered forecast, while concerns about the sales of Galaxy S6s weigh on Samsung’s shares.

HTC announced a month ago that Q2 revenue numbers were going to fall significantly short of its previous guidance, revising the anticipated total from the NT$46-51 billion range down to the NT$33-36 billion range. Today the company issued its preliminary Q2 numbers, which has revenues just scraping into that revised range at NT$33.01, resulting in a net loss of NT$8 billion.

Meanwhile analysts who spoke to Reuters were concerned that supply shortages for the special curved screen that defines the Galaxy S6 Edge have resulted in some sales potential being unfulfilled. The problem is that the main sales window for new smartphones seems to be narrowing, so by the time Samsung sorts out its screen supply issues it could be too late.

“As the smartphone market matures, the period of time that consumer demand for a high-end product lasts looks to have gotten shorter,” KTB Investment Analyst Jin Sung-hye said in a report referred to by Reuters.

That analyst downgraded her S6 shipment forecast accordingly, in spite of positive early signs, and it looks like a bunch of other analysts are downgrading their Q2 Samsung revenue expectations, leading to a fall in its share price.

Q1 2015 saw a 20% year-on-year increase in global smartphone shipments, but with the Chinese market looking like it’s finally peaking and non-Chinese vendors looking like they’re struggling, there’s every chance we’ll see slower growth in Q2.