HTC has officially unveiled a dual-SIM version of its One M8 flagship smartphone, announcing the new model for some countries in Europe.

A dual-SIM HTC M8 comes as no big surprise, but the company was expected to launch this version in China first. Instead, HTC chose to release this model in a few select countries in Europe, such as Austria, Germany, and Switzerland. A wider release should follow afterwards.

According to Ubergizmo, a press release issued in Germany announces the dual-SIM HTC One M8, complete with pricing and launch details. The smartphone will be identical to the original HTC One M8 flagship in terms of specs and features.

This means that the new HTC One M8 dual-SIM will sport the same 5-inch full HD 1080p display, quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor clocked at 2.3GHz, 2GB of RAM, and Android 4.4 KitKat on board. Other specs include 16GB or 32GB of internal storage capacity, microSD card support for additional memory of up to 128GB, a 5-megapixel front shooter, and the much-touted Duo Camera with UltraPixel and depth sensor on the back.

In other words, the only difference between the original flagship and this new model lies in the dual SIM support. While dual SIM is not very popular in the U.S., the option is sometimes preferred in other regions, as it allows users to have a single phone for two separate numbers. Whether it's about phone numbers on different networks or just keeping your work and personal life separate, dual SIM support aims to make it easier.

It remains unclear for now, however, whether the new HTC One M8 dual-SIM will come with LTE support, or whether it will have a removable rear panel design like the One M7 dual-SIM.

When it comes to pricing, the dual-SIM version of the new HTC flagship comes with quite a hefty price tag. While the standard, single-SIM model costs roughly €570 in Europe, the new dual-SIM version goes up to €799. This would translate to an extra €229 just for the extra card slot, which may not be worth it for some. At that price, one could simply get a second phone for the other SIM card. No other details are currently available regarding the global launch of the dual-SIM HTC One M8, but we'll make sure to keep you up to date as soon as we hear more.