With HTC already having slashed its second-quarter sales forecast by 13 percent, another revenue source of the company will apparently be cut off due to Microsoft's recent move to shut HTC out of the introduction of its next Windows software.
According to unidentified sources familiar with Microsoft's plans, exclusion from Microsoft tablet will further worsen HTC's woes, with the company's stock having plunged a disquieting 67 percent over the last one year.
Going by the details shared by the sources, Microsoft has seemingly locked out HTC from the development of its Windows 8-based devices largely due to concerns that HTC neither sells enough devices nor does it have sufficient experience in manufacturing tablets.
Microsoft intends launching its Windows 8 in time for the holiday season this year. The new OS will be the first to run on chips boasting ARM Holdings' technology; with the ARM edition of the new software - Windows RT - especially designed for tablets which will challenge the market-leading Apple iPad.
Noting that Microsoft has tightly controlled the number of ARM- based devices which it will initially support, so as to ensure quality, two sources close to the matter have revealed that the software company has, after early round of discussions with HTC, decided against working with HTC for the first round of Windows 8 devices.
However, one of the two sources also disclosed alongside that HTC may launch a Windows device later, in a second round of products to come in 2013.