Taiwan's HTC says sees Q3 sales up 30 pct y/y

TAIPEI, July 31 (Reuters) - Taiwan's High Tech Computer Corp (HTC) (2498.TW), the world's top smartphone maker, said on Thursday it expects third-quarter sales to rise 30 percent from a year ago on growing popularity for its smartphones.

HTC also said it expects its gross profit margin to be around 34-35 percent in the third quarter.

It added that it was still on track for a fourth-quarter release of its Android model phones using Google's (GOOG.O) new cellphone operating system.

The company had previously posted a second quarter net profit of T$6.435 billion Taiwan dollars ($210.1 million), up 8 percent from T$5.976 billion in same period a year ago.

In the past two years, the company has transformed itself from a pure contract manufacturer to a branded mobile phone company, and has seen strong sales in Asia-Pacific and in Europe, analysts said. (Reporting by Doug Young; Editing by Jonathan Hopfner)