Samsung up, HTC down

Samsung has achieved what few thought would be possible just three or four years ago. They emerged from a crowded Android market to take on Apple head to head. The numbers for Samsung show that they’re doing something right.

Samsung Electronics Co.s strategy of selling smartphones at every price point spurred record earnings at Asia’s biggest technology company and helped push Taiwanese competitor HTC Corp. to its first-ever quarterly loss.

Samsung’s third-quarter operating profit rose to about 10.1 trillion won ($9.4 billion), beating analyst estimates, on sales of cheaper handsets in emerging markets. HTC posted a net loss of NT$2.97 billion ($101 million) in the same period as its global smartphone market share plunged by more than half.