Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC on Friday reported a thin profit for its third quarter, as cost cuts helped it offset the impact of sluggish sales. HTC said on Friday it earned T$640 million ($21 million) in unaudited net profit during the July-September quarter.

HTC has struggled to maintain a distinctive brand image in an increasingly crowded marketplace.

HTC said during its last quarterly earnings briefing that improved efficiency in its sales and marketing operations would help the company maintain profitability in July-September after booking losses in third quarter 2013 and the first quarter of this year.

Sales in July dropped 33 percent from the same month a year earlier, but recovered to rise by 10 percent in August compared with the year-earlier month, the company has said.

HTC's sales in September fell 7.9 percent on year to T$16.7 billion, the company said, adding year-to-date revenue through September was down 13 percent to T$140 billion.