<--- A HTC Touch phone is seen in an undated publicity photo. Taiwan smartphone maker High Tech Computer Corp. REUTERS/HandoutTue Jun 12, 2007 TAIPEI (Reuters) - Taiwan smartphone maker High Tech Computer Corp. (HTC) (2498.TW: Quote, Profile , Research) said on Tuesday it will launch one of its own-brand touch-screen phones in the United States by the end of the year, as it seeks to compete with Apple's iPhone.
The company's second-half U.S. launch for its newly released HTC Touch phone follows a recent release for the model in Britain, said Chief Executive Officer Peter Chou.
The model, a so-called smartphone with cellphone and personal digital assistant (PDA) capabilities, will use touch-screen technology similar to that of the iPhone, set for release in the United States later this month.
"We've finally walked out of our different twists and turns," Chou said, a reference to his company's recent shift from making phones for other firms, known as original design manufacturing (ODM), to making phones under its own HTC brand name.
Chou said non-ODM phones now account for more than 70 percent of the company's sales.
He said HTC should post third-quarter revenue higher than the current quarter, and that unit phone shipments for all of 2007 should grow from 2006.
The company is expected to post third-quarter revenue of T$30.1 billion ($912 million), up from a forecast of T$27.3 billion for the current quarter, according to analysts polled by Reuters Estimates.(US$1=T$33.0)
HTC, which sells mobile phones under its own name and makes smartphones for the likes of Dell (DELL.O: Quote, Profile , Research) and NTT DoCoMo (9437.T: Quote, NEWS , Research), is the world's biggest maker of devices that combine functions on personal digital assistants (PDAs) with mobile communications
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