HTC One delayed due to parts shortage: report

According to a new report, HTC is having trouble obtaining components for the camera on the HTC One smartphone. 

The roll-out of the One, the new flagship smartphone from Taiwan tech giant HTC, has reportedly been delayed due to a component shortage. 

And according to the Wall Street Journal (hat tip to CNET), the hold-up may have something to do with HTC's less-than-stellar performance in the international smart-phone market. In an article published today, the Journal reports that "HTC has had difficulty in securing adequate camera components as it is no longer a tier-one customer."

The top-tier customers being referenced here, of course, are Samsung and Apple, who together account for more than 50 percent of all global smart-phone shipments. Compared to them, HTC is a small fry. In fact, the company recently dropped off the list of the top five global smart-phone manufacturers. 

"Reading between the lines of the corporate-speak reveals a pretty shocking admission that HTC is not in the cool-kids club anymore," notes Eric Mack of CNET, "at least in the eyes of the industrial supply chain that makes the magic happen." 

HTC is betting big on the HTC One, a sleek, sharp phone powered by a Qualcomm quad-core processor. And early reviews of the device have been largely positive. 

"Stunning, elegant, innovative, mind-blowing, gorgeous, loud, beautiful, and fun are just some of the adjectives I could use to describe the HTC One," raved Matthew Miller of ZDNet. "I have tested hundreds of phones over the years and in my opinion the HTC One is the best-designed phone I have ever used." 

Of course, reviews like Mr. Miller's won't mean much if HTC can't get the One to consumers in a timely manner. 

When will the device actually ship? Well, it was meant to go into wide release by this month. But the manufacturing hiccup may mean HTC won't hit peak shipping volume until early April. 

For more tech news, follow us on Twitter @venturenaut.