HTC has officially confirmed weeks of speculation that its long planned head start to launch the HTC one ahead of the Samsung Galaxy S IV would be stopped by component shortages related to its camera sensors by issuing the following statement on its Facebook page earlier today.
HTC has seen unprecedented demand for and interest in the new HTC One, and the care taken to design and build it is evidenced in early reviews. The new HTC One will roll out in the UK, Germany and Taiwan next week and across Europe, North America and most of Asia-Pacific before the end of April. We appreciate our customers’ patience, and believe that once they have the phone in their hands they will agree that it has been worth the wait.
The delays in shipping the US versions also explain why no US carrier has committed to firm launch dates outside of setting up pre-registration pages for more information since the official launch of the HTC One late last month ahead of Samsung’s Galaxy S IV announcement this month. HTC representatives also admitted that the delay would be due to the difficulty in securing enough of the camera sensor assemblies crucial to its UltraPixel tech to meet demand due to its less prominent position in the marketplace compared to other manufacturers in response to the initial rumors of the European delay in the last few weeks.
The confirmation of the delay for the US market also adds more pressure for HTC, which has seen its once dominant position in Android smartphones almost eroded completely thanks to Samsung’s increased marketing since the launch of the first Galaxy S in 2010, when it was still profitable, only to see it nearly crash completely with the launch of the HTC One series in 2011 in an attempt to pare down its volume and regain its focus on developing competitive Android flagships.
The plan was sound in theory, only for HTC to suffer lower than expected sales due to botched marketing initiatives despite critical praise, as well as failing to bring all carriers in line with the HTC One initiative, with select US carriers still insisting on their own carrier variants instead of adopting reference designs, making marketing more difficult and costly, with the consequences still being felt to this day.
