(Telecompaper) HTC signalled an upturn in sales in the second quarter compared to the first three months of the year, but sales were still down sharply from a year ago. Its quarterly revenue of TWD 18.9 billion was up 27 percent form Q1, which HTC attributed to the launch of its flagship HTC 10 smartphone and HTC Vive virtual reality headset. The Vive launched on time to consumers in early April and to businesses in June, and HTC has been working to build up a network of partners to promote the device. Sales of the premium devices helped lift its gross margin to 11.4 percent in Q2 from 9.2 percent in Q1, while its operating loss narrowed to TWD 4.2 billion from TWD 4.8 billion over the same period. Helped by a gain of TWD 1.0 billion on the sale of land in Taiwan, the net loss shrunk to TWD 3.1 billion from TWD 8.0 billion a year ago.