Windows Phone 8X

HTC reported that its February sales plunged 44 percent from the year-ago period, down to around $381.7 million, as the company awaits the launch of its new One smartphone, which it hopes will help reinvigorate sales. The weak showing is also an indication that the smartphone maker's emphasis on Microsoft's Windows Phone in the fourth quarter and into the early part of 2013 has done little to help stanch the company's bleeding.

HTC said it will not bring its mid-range Windows Phone 8S device to the U.S. market, and will instead put all of its marketing efforts behind the high-end Windows Phone 8X. 

Microsoft formally unveiled its new Windows Phone 8 software, demonstrating several new features, and also emphasized the carrier support the platform is receiving from AT&T Mobility, T-Mobile USA and, perhaps most importantly, Verizon Wireless.

Nokia's flagship Lumia 920 Windows Phone 8 smartphone will cost $149.99 when paired with a two-year contract, according to a Best Buy website. That pricing would allow the Lumia 920 to undercut the prices of some of the other marquee smartphones it will be competing against in the fourth quarter.