Kevin Chen, HTC General Manager for MEA and CIS, has apparently indicated that HTC will launch its first Windows Mobile devices in Q1 2009. The original source for this news is a site called Phonereport.info which has since had its account suspended (too much traffic?). Chen apparently revealed this nugget during a chat with Phonereport.info at an HTC Touch Diamond launch event in South Africa.
HTC is not the first to announce Windows Mobile 7 devices though. Earlier this year, MWg announced that it would release its first Windows Mobile 7 device, the MWg Flame II, in Q4 2008.
While there is no question that Microsoft is working on Windows Mobile 7 (codename Photon), it has yet to reveal when it will be released. Rumours in the past have placed the release in late 2008 to early 2009 so the rumour cannot be completely discredited (but the odds on it are pretty long).