HTC expects 36 percent increase in Q2 sales thanks to Android

If Apple created the first round of disruption to the business-as-usual lethargy infecting the cellphone industry then Google appears poised to bring round two. When looking around at choices, it's the Android OS backed by Google's cloud-based services and the 50k app-strong Android Market we usually find underpinning the sexiest and most powerful hardware on the market. And guess who's making the hardware? Right, HTC. Now HTC -- thanks to its recently introduced Desire, Legend, HD Mini, Smart, EVO 4G and Droid Incredible -- says it expects record revenues of $1.6 billion in Q2 on sales of 4.5 million handsets, up from 3.3 million handsets sold in Q1 and ahead of analyst expectations. Cheng Hui-ming, HTC chief financial officer, credits the bump to the "growing popularity of the Android platform in Europe and the US". One can only imagine what HTC sales will do when its long-standing Microsoft partner releases Windows Phone 7 OS later this year.