War of The Tablets: HTC plans windows 8 tablets

HTC plans to make tablets based on the Windows operating system, giving Microsoft another ally in its challenge to Apple and Google in the $63.2 billion market, people familiar with the matter said.

HTC, excluded earlier this year from the first batch of Windows tablets, is working on a 12-inch device and a 7-inch version that can also make phone calls, according to a person familiar with the company’s plans, who declined to be identified as the information isn’t yet public.

HTC’s products, to debut in 2013, will be based on the Windows RT version of Microsoft’s operating system, designed for machines with chips using technology from ARM Holdings Plc (ARM), according to a person familiar with the plans. Delays in those machines, as well as another version running on Intel ’s chips, have meant Microsoft has few Windows devices capable of challenging Apple’s iPad.

A 7-inch tablet would be the first of that size for Windows RT, as Microsoft tries to compete with the iPad mini, Amazon’s Kindle Fire and Google’s Nexus 7 in the market for smaller, cheaper tablets.

HTC’s tablets are tentatively scheduled for release in the third quarter and would run on chips from Qualcomm, one person said. Production details and exact schedules haven’t been finalized, the person said.