HTC (2498) continues to churn out one gorgeous smartphone after another but its struggles persist, proving yet again that quality alone is no match for extensive carrier support and marketing budgets that reach into the billions. As industry giants Samsung (005930) and Apple (AAPL) continue trouncing the rest of the market, HTC’s woes are seen continuing through the first quarter next year. According to Digitimes’ unnamed industry sources, HTC has already trimmed first-quarter smartphone orders and has suspended the development of several new models. The report claims that HTC’s projected shipment growth for Q1 has been cut in half as a result, from 20-30% to 10-15% sequentially. HTC did not comment on the report.

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After taking the wraps off Open webOS 1.0 last Friday, Hewlett-Packard (HPQ) has posted job listings for engineers in Shanghai, China and Sunnyvale, California, The Power Base reports. A total of 53 job listings have been made public. Positions include senior Linux software engineers, senior visual designer, senior product manager and many more. The Power Base says that these are high-paying positions and it shows HP is serious about reviving webOS as an open source operating system. While fans might be holding out for HP to release a Pre 3 or TouchPad successor with a revamped webOS, The Power Base says it’s very unlikely HP will help develop the platform for consumer mobile devices. Instead, HP is most likely creating “a secure platform [it] can sell to corporate environments

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