What’s going on with HTC’s delays in bringing the One to market? We heard about problems getting enough parts for the phone’s UltraPixel camera contributing to shortages and delayed stock availability, and later saw retailers push back the dates they hoped to have the One in stock. HTC has made assurances that these issues won’t affect the Android’s US availability, but we still haven’t heard the full story on just what’s causing all this. This morning The Wall Street Journal reports on the situation, and has some interesting things to say about how HTC’s reputation in the mobile industry has had a hand in this delay.

Beyond just camera parts, HTC is reportedly having trouble securing enough of the metal frames used by the One for its manufacturing needs. An exec blames this situation on HTC’s relationship with its component suppliers, and points to HTC’s frequent and drastic modifications to order forecasts in the past, eventually leading to its status as a second-class customer. As such, it’s not getting the priority nor the attention it needs to put together all the components to feed the demand of the One’s launch.

We’re still looking to broad availability of the One sometime in April, but we wonder if this hiccup will have farther-reaching consequences on HTC’s sales outlook.

Source: WSJ
Via: Phone Scoop