HTC Says it Has no Plans to Bring its Windows Phone 8S to the U.S.

With HTC’s flagship Windows Phone 8X on the market, chatter of its lower-end 8S — the little brother, if you will — has died down substantially since its initial announcement — perhaps not so unsurprising, given its status as second fiddle to the 8X. Still, the lack of any official word on its arrival has bit a bit puzzling. But the silence has been broken, and U.S. fans might not like what HTC had to say.

A company spokesperson made a statement to Engadget on Friday, saying that HTC has no current plans to distribute the device in the U.S. market. That doesn’t rule out the handset coming to a stateside carrier completely, but it certainly doesn’t sound promising. Instead, HTC said its priority here in the U.S. is to market its Windows Phone 8X, which is available through AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon Wireless.

The Verge said that carrier testing delays actually set the HTC 8S back, though it’s unclear how its status overseas has been affected. This is a handset clearly aimed at emerging and pay-as-you-go market, so finding a spot on the bigger carriers here in the U.S., especially with good cheap Android and iPhones still around, was always going to be an uphill battle.

For now, it sounds like we can cross the HTC Windows Phone 8S off the list as a potential device here in the U.S.