Rising smartphone star HTC looks set to be a major early player in LTE devices, with reported deals at China Mobile and Verizon Wireless. Reuters notes that the Taiwanese vendor has extended a 3G deal with China Mobile (via which HTC currently offers around 10 TD-SCDMA devices for the world’s largest operator) to focus on TD-LTE. Meanwhile Taiwan’s Economic Daily News reports that HTC is set to launch its first LTE smartphones next year, with shipment expected to be to Verizon. Verizon has promised to launch LTE networks by the end of this year but has previously stated that LTE smartphones would not be available until mid 2011.

Taiwan’s HTC recently forecast that its revenues will more than double in the current quarter on the back of strong demand for its smartphones. The handset-maker expects third-quarter revenue to reach a record TWD70 billion in Q3, up from TWD34.01 billion a year earlier. It also expects third-quarter smartphone shipments to more than double to 6.5 million units from 2.8 million a year earlier, and to rise 20 percent from the 5.4 million shipments recorded in Q2. HTC earlier reported second-quarter net profit of TWD8.64 billion, up 33 percent year-on-year, on revenues of TWD60.5 billion. HTC is the world’s fourth-largest smartphone vendor and was both the world’s first supplier of Android devices and the world’s first mobile WiMAX smartphone manufacturer.