HTC Balks at Building Larger Windows Phone; Says Support Just Isn't There (MSFT) (NOK)
According to reports out Monday, venerable smartphone maker HTC is putting plans to build a WP8 smartphone with a display at or above 5-inches on hold. Sources said that it might have something to do with WP8 not supporting 1080p display.
Bloomberg notes that HTC thinks the larger display wouldn't be as competitive against Apple's (Nasdaq: AAPL) iPhone and devices running Google's (Nasdaq: GOOG) Android operating system.
HTC shares have been pressured over the last year as competition in the Android arena heightened. The company's latest release -- the 5-inch display Droid DNA -- is its first "flagship" product in about two years.
Android still enjoys 72 percent of the global market while Apple's iOS retained 14 percent in the third quarter, according to recent data from Gartner.
Last month, Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer said Windows Phone sales were up four times the same period in 2011.
Ahead of the bell Monday, Microsoft shares are flat. In addition, traders will likely be keeping an eye on Nokia Corp (NYSE: NOK). HTC is still strong competition for Nokia in WP8 smartphones, a market Nokia is banking will pay out dividends moving forward.