TAIPEI: Taiwan’s struggling smartphone maker HTC on Monday reported a second straight quarterly loss in the three months to September, just weeks after announcing job cuts as it tries to turn around its business.

The after-tax net loss in the third quarter was 4.48 billion Taiwanese dollars ($137.1 million) compared with a profit of 600 million Taiwanese dollars in the same period last year, the company said in a statement citing unaudited results.

The homegrown smartphone brand announced in August it would cut more than 2,000 jobs — slashing headcount by 15 per cent — after its biggest-ever loss in the second quarter. HTC, once a star of the intensely competitive smartphone sector, has struggled to maintain its edge as Samsung, Apple and strong Chinese brands like Huawei expand their market share.

HTC’s revenue in the third quarter was 21.4 billion Taiwanese dollars, almost halved from the same period a year earlier.