With smartphone/tablet hybrids becoming all the rage these days, reports are circulating that Taiwanese mobile phone maker HTC is ditching plans to make a Windows Phone based "phablet".

A source close to HTC has confirmed with Bloomberg that Microsoft's new operating system does not support high enough resolutions to allow for a device to compete with other phablets on the market, such as the Android-based Samsung Galaxy Note 2.

Bloomberg said that HTC was planning a Windows Phone 8 handset in the 5-inch range but Chief Executive Officer Peter Chou decided to halt the project.

Samsung, meanwhile, has had greater-than-expected success with its Android based Galaxy Note "phablets," prompting other manufacturers to get in on the act.

Microsoft recently released three new versions of its Windows 8 operating system, which is designed to work across the range of new mobile devices such as smartphones and tablets.

Alongside the full Windows 8 desktop OS, Microsoft also released Windows RT for tablets and Windows Phone 8 for smartphones. However, Windows Phone 8 has a maximum resolution of 1280x768 pixels. Google's Android platform, on the other hand, has no such restriction, with HTC's recently released the 5-inch Droid DNA supporting a 1920x1080 pixel display.

HTC, which has struggled recently in the face of competition from Samsung and Apple, was one of the first manufacturers to adopt Windows Phone 8 for its handsets. It released its HTC 8X smartphone in October, but it now believes that a larger device would not be competitive with similar Android phones.

Bloomberg reports that HTC's revenue this quarter will be around $2.1 billion, the lowest since 2010. The company said that it will keep its faith with the traditional sized Windows Phone 8 smartphones.

Neither HTC nor Microsoft have commented on the reports that the Taiwanese firm will not be making a Windows phablet.