HTC has revealed its 2013 flagship, the HTC One, will not start shipping to markets across the globe until later this month.
The announcement from the Taiwanese smartphone manufacturer comes after rumours that two of the handset’s components were in short supply, one of which was speculated to be part of the firm’s new headlining UltraPixel camera (more on this later).
While HTC didn’t confirm the reason behind the delay, it has promised to “start fulfilling pre-orders by end of March in certain markets” and will roll out to more markets “at the beginning of April.”
The HTC One was scheduled to hit shelves on 15 March, but British online retailer Clove offered a more precise date, indicating that the first shipments here in the UK will arrive ready for 29 March.
Although the delay is only two weeks it’s still a huge setback for the firm after it recently revealed its sales figures for the first quarter of 2013 are its worst since 2010, recording a 44% drop in revenue.
It will also mean that Samsung, which unveiled the Galaxy S4 handset during a special event in New York this week, will have a greater opportunity to steal some of the focus away from HTC.
There has been no word about when Samsung’s new flagship will start shipping, but with industry experts describing the Galaxy S4 as the most anticipated smartphone of 2013, Samsung’s latest offering is already being predicted to sell in its millions.
If the Galaxy S4 is released for sale before HTC is able to solve its latest problems, the Taiwanese company could once again be overshadowed by its rival and be at risk of seeing all its hard work going to waste.
The HTC One is a unique and stylish device bursting with premium specs and new innovations, all of which have led to a string of positive reviews from industry experts.
Some of the HTC One’s key features include:
- 1.7GHz quad-core processor
- 4.7” full 1080p HD display
- UltraPixel camera with f/2.0 aperture
- 1080p video recording
Sense 5.0 user interface with BlinkFeed, sees social network updates, news sources and feeds pulled together in realtime on to the homescreen.
As mentioned earlier, the UltraPixel camera has stirred up a lot of excitement, partly because it features one of the highest apertures ever seen on a mobile device.
While HTC’s new camera only stands at 4 megapixels, these pixels are larger which means they’re able to capture more light, so resulting images appear sharper and colours are crisp and natural.
Those who have pre-ordered the HTC One will no doubt be questioning how much longer they will have to wait to get their hands on the device. EE is of the many carriers world-wide selling the handset and has announced on its website that the HTC One is still available for pre-order but now has a 28 day wait time before delivery.
The HTC One looks to be the firm’s best handset to date, but with so much riding on its success the Taiwanese manufacturer can but hope this latest complication is ironed out quickly to avoid any further knocks to its plummeting sales figures.
Check out the full video review of the HTC One below to find out exactly what’s in store when the handset finally arrives on UK shores later this month.
Written by Sarah Hazelwood of Dialaphone, the home of all the latest news on the HTC One.
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