HTC to launch two Windows tablets this year: report

Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC may launch two tablet models running a Microsoft operating system in mid-October, according to a post on the technology website PhoneArena.HTC declined to comment on the report, saying it does not respond to market speculations.In a May 7 article, PhoneArena quoted an unnamed source as saying that HTC might release two Microsoft OS-enabled tablet models later this year, to be codenamed R7 and R12 in accordance with their respective screen sizes.The new HTC tablets will run the Windows RT Blue platform and feature full high-definition screens and long-life batteries, the article said.Market research firm DisplaySearch had said earlier that HTC was likely to launch a Windows tablet this year. In its forecast, DisplaySearch said the new HTC tablet would feature a 10.1-inch screen and would be manufactured by Pegatro.Neither HTC nor Microsoft has commented on the DisplaySearch report.HTC launched a foray into the tablet market in 2011, unveiling a line of products such as the HTC Flyer, EVO View 4G and HTC Jetstream. But the company announced last October that it was withdrawing from the market for the time being.At the time, market analysts said the decision may have been related to lukewarm consumer response to HTC tablets because of the high prices and limited software support.The company's reported plan to launch Windows-enabled tablets in October may signal a new approach to the fast growing tablet market.Tablet computers are expected to become the main engine of growth in the semiconductor sector over the next four years, according to Morris Chang, chairman of Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing.The global tablet market is likely to post a compound average growth of 23% for the 2011-2016 period, Chang said in TSMC's most recent annual review of developments in the technology industry. He said the company, which is the world's largest contract wafer foundry, will expand its research and production capacity in a bid to capitalize on the tablet boom and increase its market share....