No Windows 8 tablets from HTC, suggests report

Things aren't looking very good for Taiwanese manufacturer HTC. The company has reduced its second quarter sales target by 13 percent, its shares are at a two year low, and now reports suggest that Microsoft is shutting it out of next Windows version.

Bloomberg is reporting that Microsoft has locked HTC out from the development of tablets running on Windows 8 platform. Sources suggest that there are concerns about HTC's device sales numbers or experience with tablets.

Taiwanese manufacturer has only launched two tablets till now, both running on Android, and neither proved to be very popular.

Microsoft is working closely with manufacturers to launch several tablets based on ARM as well as Intel processors. Windows 8 is the first release of Windows designed for both traditional computers (PCs and Laptops) and tablets, with Windows 8 RT designed to run on ARM processors.

Redmond or HTC weren't clear in their responses to Bloomberg on the topic. Both the companies have seen a shift in their relationship in recent times. While HTC has decided to focus more on Android, Microsoft has moved closer to Nokia.