Of the eight smartphones HTC is preparing for the first half of next year, only three run Windows Mobile, and they're all relegated to HTC's "Productivity" category.
By comparison, HTC released four Windows Mobile phones this year, and three phones running on Android (four if you count the Droid Eris, which is a modified version of the HTC Hero). However, the emphasis on Android is really staggering when you look at HTC's entire current line-up: Just four phones run Android, while 14 are powered by Windows Mobile.
So it looks like HTC will try to balance that ratio out a bit next year. According to a leak of HTC's portfolio, the top-performing Android model will be Bravo, the first HTC phone to use Qualcomm's 1 GHz Snapdragon processor, also touting 720p DivX playback, an AMOLED touch screen and a 5-megapixel camera. In the "Design/Lifestyle" category, there's the Legend, with an AMOLED screen, a 600 GHz processor and a 5-megapixel camera. Also in that category is the Salsa, which has a QWERTY keyboard on the face. Finally, there's the "Social" category, with the Tide, packing a number pad on the front plus a 2.68-inch touch screen, and the Buzz, whose 5-megapixel auto focus camera can do face tagging.
As Electronista notes, HTC's Windows Mobile offerings -- Photon, Trophy and Tera -- don't have any exciting hardware to rave about. The Tera and Photon are essentially upgrades of the Touch Pro 2 and HD2, respectively, and the Trophy is like the Photon with a QWERTY keyboard on the face. You're looking at 600 MHz processors for all three.
The trouble here is that HTC is increasingly trying to be more consumer-focused, and in the process it's moving towards Android. The company recently launched an ad campaign to make people more aware of the brand, and increasingly Android will be at the forefront of that effort. I know lots of people like Windows Mobile phones for productivity, but I have a feeling Microsoft doesn't want to be shoehorned into that category. The company has yet to provide any details on Windows Mobile 7, as WinMo 6.5 was just released in October, but it'll have to be a major overhaul of Microsoft wants to get out of the productivity niche.
