HTC One just one of 17 new non-Nokia Windows Phones on the way

PCWorld reports that a whole bevy of Windows Phones from OEMs other than Microsoft Mobile are on the way.

Greg Sullivan, the director of Windows Phone at Microsoft, said:

“It’s been interesting to see that of these 17 devices that have been announced or are available, most of them are for emerging markets or are lower-cost devices. But we’ve always known that there is this spectrum of devices that this would range from all the way from affordable devices up to the marquee and high-end devices like the HTC One. While this is the first flagship, we’re open for business.”

HTC worldwide communications manager Jeff Gordon revealed HTC had always planned to release the HTC One in both an Android and Windows Phone version.

The delay, he said, was due to “engineering resources that were still ramping up”.

Several dedicated HTC engineers were working alongside Microsoft, with Microsoft making sure Windows Phone supported the technology HTC needed.

“…I think the onus was on us to enable our software to do what we need to do on this device,” Greg Sullivan said. 

Greg said adapting themselves to OEMs vs asking them to adapt themselves to Windows Phone (e.g camera button) was a new way of thinking.

“This is absolutely a change we’re embracing and encouraging,” Sullivan.

“We think people like choice, and will appreciate having that choice,” he said.

Greg however confirmed that no OEM will be able to skin the Windows Phone user interface, saying it was “one of the core things that sets us apart.”

A huge number of new Windows Phones should move the needle for Windows Phone in the second half of the year.  Do our readers think this be enough to make up for the post Nokia slump? Let us know below.

Source: PCWorld.com