According to MIC (Market Intelligence & Consulting Institute), the number of Taiwanese branded smartphones shipped reached about 4.3 million units, down 1.3% sequentially and 41.2% year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2013.
Looking at shipment performance of individual Taiwanese branded vendors, in October 2013, HTC launched a high-end smartphone, dubbed One max, featuring Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 (APQ8064T) processor to compete with Qualcomm Snapdragon 800-powered models launched by rivals such as the Samsung Galaxy Note 3, Sony Xperia Z1 and LG G2.
Without outstanding specs, the HTC One max failed to gain high market acceptance and the company's growth momentum was dragged as a result. HTC's flagship model New HTC One launched in February 2013 continued to play a key role in bolstering the company's shipment performance, alongside with the mid-range smartphones - HTC One mini and Desire.
Looking at shipment volume by communication technology, shipment share of branded smartphones with a built-in LTE system reached about 31.4% and supporting mainly FDD-LTE (Frequency Division Duplexing Long Term Evolution). LTE branded smartphones shipped in the fourth quarter of 2014 include New HTC One for Japanese telecom operators, Sprint and Verizon; HTC One max for North American telecom operators along with HTC Desire and One mini. Acer's flagship model, Liquid S2, also has made some contributions. Meanwhile, a small amount of HTC one max supporting TD-LTE technology has been shipped for China Mobile.
In anticipation of LTE smartphone orders placed by three leading Chinese telecom operators, the shipment share of LTE branded smartphones in the Taiwanese industry is estimated to grow considerably in the first quarter of 2014 to over 40%.
