HTC’s profit jumps 160 percent, to ship 8.5M phones in Q1

We’re still in the first month of 2011 and HTC has announced that its profit has jumped 160 percent in the fall as part of the record business it’s expecting this year. The company’s decision to focus on Android for most of 2010 saw it reach a net profit of $501.2 million and there was an obvious focus on North America as more than half of the $9.55 billion revenue in 2010 came from North America.

The company expects growth to pick up in 2011 and is forecasting to ship around 8.5 million phones in the first quarter of the year. HTC is looking to double production at its main Shanghai factory to two million phones every month in order to keep up with demand.