Microsoft bars HTC from making Windows 8 tablets

Things are looking really bleak for HTC, which is going through a rough patch of a few quarters despite having some pretty good products. After announcing it will miss its revenue targets in the June quarter, Bloomberg is reporting more bad news for the Taiwanese smartphone vendor. Microsoft has reportedly barred HTC from making ARM-based Windows 8 tablets.
It seems HTC was interested in making these tablets running on the upcoming Windows 8 RT platform (Windows 8 for ARM architecture) but Microsoft shot it down. The Redmond-based software giant wanted someone with the capability to ship more units and someone with more experience of making tablets for the first round of Windows 8 RT tablets. HTC is likely to get the opportunity later. Going by the same logic, we wonder if Nokia, which has bet the farm on Microsoft for its smartphone and tablet strategy, would be among the first wave of companies to offer Windows RT tablets.
Then there was also the question of HTC wanting to add its own custom skin on top of stock Windows UI to distinguish its tablets from others. Microsoft denied that request too. It wants to control the complete look and feel of its new OS, just like it does in Windows Phone. That was probably it for HTC and its aspirations to launch a Windows 8 tablet later this year.