HTC reports it has sold 800,000 of its Touch mobile phones since they went on sale on July 22nd. In roughly the same period of time (2.3 months) the iPhone sold 1 million units, although that was restricted to the US while the Touch was in multiple countries. Still, 800,000 isn’t for a company with no brand name, and indicates that higher-end devices are beginning to gain the attention of buyers. I think the hype around the iPhone had a lot to do with generating that interest, rather than Apple (NSDQ: AAPL) getting lucky and releasing the iPhone at the right time. HTC has beaten Apple to the launch of the next version of its handset (which is unsurprising considering it is a handset manufacturer and used to the market) with the Touch Dual phone. “France Telecom’s (NYSE: FTE) mobile arm Orange will be the first operator to sell the phone - which can run on a 3.5G/HSDPA network - in the U.K., France, Romania and Poland, starting in October. The phone - which like Apple’s iPhone has a two-megapixel camera, touch screen and the ability to rotate images - will be provided free in the U.K. to Orange customers on a 35 pound-a-month tariff” reports Dow Jones.