At what point did Bloomberg start writing ridiculously sensationalistic and misleading headlines? It apparently started last night with the following: HTC Said To Be Shut Out Of Next Version Of Windows.
Last I checked, HTC is in the business of making smartphones, not tablets. The four previous tablets built by HTC were likely built to appease the carriers. Regardless of whether or not HTC is allowed to build devices for Windows 8 proper, that won’t be true for Windows Phone 8, say multiple sources.
The writing’s been on the wall. It’s not rocket science.
Motorola is locked into Android indefinitely for obvious reasons. Despite having launched the original Nexus, HTC has been supplanted by Samsung, who has built the last two Nexus devices. Samsung will continue to dabble with Windows Phone but will ultimately back Android.
Ugh. Nokia. Not even sure where to begin here. After the much hyped Lumia 900 dropped in the U.S., it turned out to be pretty lackluster. It’s definitely not a hero device. It’s not even that great of a mid-level device considering how crap the camera is. In some respects, the super cheap Lumia 710 for T-Mobile is a better device than the Lumia 800 or 900.
There have been rumors of Huawei building Windows Phone devices, as well. I can confirm that they will be releasing a Windows Phone device this year.
But really, this is where HTC comes into play. Of the 13 Windows Phone 7 devices currently available, HTC has built seven. They’re losing ground to Samsung and Motorola in the Android race, so backing Windows Phone makes the most logical sense. And both companies are located in the greater Seattle area. Where is Nokia’s U.S. office? New York. Sunnyvale.
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HTC admitted earlier this year in an interview with Mobile Magazine that the company needed to refocus, scale back and get back to building “hero” devices. At this point, Windows Phone lacks exactly that. Both Microsoft and HTC are doubling down on Windows Phone 8. In typical Microsoft fashion, millions upon millions of dollars will be allocated to increase market share. HTC has the pedigree to build amazing hardware. Remember how awesome the Nexus One was?
I can guarantee that HTC IS NOT being locked out of Windows RT. Building tablets was never a part of HTC’s core strengths. About those sources in the Bloomberg story. The most likely scenario: misinformation from competitors or all involved clearly didn’t do their homework. Maybe both.
