TAIPEI: Taiwan's economy has been one of the worst performing economies in Asia this year.
A decline in exports has slowed its full year economic growth to one per cent.
2012 was a tough year for Taiwan's technology industry, especially for smartphone maker HTC, which lost much of its global market to rivals Apple and Samsung.
Its falling sales had not only hurt HTC's bottom-line, but also dragged Taiwan's exports into negative growth.
HTC is stepping up efforts to woo consumers. It hopes to turn its fortune around with new gadgets.
"Our storage capacity for HTC One X has increased to 64GB from the previous 32GB. Plus, its battery life is longer by up to 37 per cent," said Eric Chen, HTC Taiwan's marketing director on its HTC One X handset.
As Asia's second largest handset maker, HTC saw its sales falling some 40 per cent this year.
Competition from Apple and Samsung halved its global market share to 4 per cent.
This took a toll on Taiwan's export growth, of which a quarter came from HTC.
Sam Shen, Market Intelligence and Consulting Institute director said: "HTC's shipments last year exceeded 53 million units. This year could shrink to some 40 million units. So the decline stood out in the overall export figures."
The island's exports in 2012 are likely to contract by more than 2 per cent, to their lowest level in three years.
But Taiwan's market intelligence agency believes the worst is over for HTC.
Mr Shen said: "With the continuing advancement of smartphones and their key components, there's going to be greater demand from the emerging economies. Overall, the market will remain competitive, but demand will be high."
Global shipments for smartphones are expected to grow by more than 20 per cent in 2013.
HTC is fighting back by expanding its presence in China, the fastest growing market in the world. Still, it could be a rough road ahead for the company.
"On the high-end smartphones, HTC is competing against Samsung and Apple. And on the low-end handsets, HTC is up against China's Huawei Technologies and ZTE. So it's going to be tough," said Masson Li, Taishin Securities Investment Advisory's co-vice president.
Mr Li added: "Actually the lines between smartphones and tablets are blurring. So more tablet makers may want to get a piece of the smartphone market."
While it may take a while for HTC to get back on its feet, Taiwan can still count on tablets for support.
Currently, more than 80 per cent of tablets in the world are made by Taiwanese firms.
According to IDC, global shipments for tablets are estimated to soar 40 per cent in the coming year.
If the global market regains momentum as expected, Taiwan's economic growth could exceed 3 per cent in 2013.
- CNA/xq
HTC hopes to get ahead of competition in 2013
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HTC hopes to get ahead of competition in 2013
