Msmobiles has a story (http://www.msmobiles.com/news.php/3397.html) that Taiwanese HTC (http://www.htc.com.tw/) plans to include Skype's VOIP software (http://www.skype.com/) with its next generation Smartphones:

I am the WiFi engineer of HTC.com.tw, which is the manufacturer of Orange SPV C500, a wince smart phone, and also the main producer of various famous PDA, such as iPAQ serious and Axim serious of Dell. We're interested in dual mode smart phones, and would like to discuss with you the possibilities of using skype smart phone version as our voice over IP application solution. Please contact with us for detail discussion if you're also interested in such field. My email is shanfu_lin@htc.com.tw
And who is the loser? Certainly the big US phone companies wouldn't be too happy.

US Phone companies won't be happy, but they don't exactly demonstrate a spirit of giving customers what is best and cheapest for them! In my mind, it seems to all be about incremental spending and control of access. But the great thing about technology is, hopefully, it will move on past them anyway, giving us all what we really want!

On the other hand... I've gotta ask the question...do you think this this real? If it came from Skype, it's pretty sad that an exact copy of this inquiry from HTC would become public, with the engineer's email no less. Seems to risk their relationship with HTC, and be a generally reckless breach of trust. It will be interesting to see what feedback comes from the players involved in it all.

I agree with Bob. Handing out an exact copy of the e-mail inquiry is not very professional. Unless the e-mail is fake of course (but why should someone put a fake out like this one).

Does anyone know more about HTC? This company has almost a mythical touch considering how much they do for the handheld industry (e.g. Dell Axim X50v and MDA III were both built by them), without being in the spotlight.