HTC One Delay Caused By Component Shortages

The release date of the HTC One has been pushed back due to a shortage in components, including metal cases and camera parts, the Wall Street Journal has reported.

The smartphone was originally pencilled in for a March release, and although the Taiwanese manufacturer plans to work tirelessly to ensure that some pre-orders are fulfilled this month, some markets will have to wait until April to get their hands on the device.

HTC apparently has a problem controlling its supply chain as its orders have fluctuated so much in the past year due to an unexpected slump in shipments that it is no longer considered a tier one customer.

It has informed a number of distributors and operators, including Vodafone and US retailer Best Buy, of the delay, which is a serious blow to the firm’s hopes of a recovery.

HTC One delay

The HTC One is widely regarded as the company’s last chance of reclaiming lost market share and remaining competitive with Apple and Samsung at the top of the smartphone arena while also fending off renewed attempts from the likes of RIM, Nokia and Sony.

Sales fell by 41 percent during the last quarter of 2012, while profits have fallen by as much as 90 percent in recent times. Any delay to the HTC One hitting the market is undesirable to say the least and will increase the pressure on CEO Peter Chou, who has claimed he will step down if the smartphone isn’t a success.

Announced last month, The HTC One is powered by a meaty Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 quad-core 1.7GHz processor, 2GB of RAM and runs the latest iteration of Android, version 4.2 Jelly Bean. It is cased in what HTC claims is the world’s first full zero-gap aluminium unibody and boasts a sizable 4.7-inch full HD screen and support for LTE networks.

It also boasts a number of imaging features, an updated HTC Sense interface and will be available in silver or black varieties when it is finally released.

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