HTC unveiled on Wednesday two smartphone models running Microsoft’s Windows Phone 8 software and said the devices would be available in November through multiple wireless service providers around the world.
The two brightly coloured phones – the Windows Phone 8X and the Windows Phone 8S – will pit HTC directly against key Microsoft partner Nokia, which earlier this month also launched two colourful Windows phone models.
Like Nokia, HTC is under pressure to generate strong sales from its next round of smartphones as it has lost significant ground to Samsung Electronics and Apple.
With Apple boasting two million pre-orders of its latest iPhone before it hits store shelves on September 21, Reticle Research analyst Ross Rubin said it was going to be challenging for HTC to catch up.
However, HTC, which has generated most of its sales from phones based on Google’s Android software in recent years, will be able to count on marketing help from Microsoft.
The new devices will be marketed as the “signature” Windows Phone 8 smartphones, Jason Mackenzie, HTC’s global head of sales, told attendees at the company’s New York launch event, where Microsoft Chief Executive Steve Ballmer also came on stage.