Taiwan smartphone maker HTC reports profit jump

Taiwan smartphone maker HTC Corp. says its third quarter earnings grew 68 percent from the same period last year, with shipments reaching 13 million handsets.

The company said Monday net profit for the July-September quarter amounted to New Taiwan dollars 18.7 billion ($620 million) on revenue of NT$136 billion, with Asia, particularly China, a key to growth.

HTC has grown on the strength of the design of its handsets, based on Google Inc.'s Android operating system. It says its profile has been raised with the launch of two "Sensation" models equipped with high-end Beats headphones by U.S. maker Dr. Dre.

HTC expects fourth quarter shipments to be between 12 and 13 million. That would represent a 30 percent revenue increase on the same period in 2010.

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