The HTC One, the beautiful beast of an Android phone, is delayed because suppliers no longer consider HTC a “tier one company”. Component companies only seem to care about working with Apple and Samsung, which means that we’re going to have to wait a little longer to get our hands on the best Android phone right now.
An HTC executive in a surprisingly forthright quote to the Wall Street Journal says:
“The company has a problem managing its component suppliers as it has changed its order forecasts drastically and frequently following last year’s unexpected slump in shipments. HTC has had difficulty in securing adequate camera components as it is no longer a tier-one customer.”
It’s surprising, because, for one, an HTC executive is totally admitting that HTC is no longer on the same level as Apple and Samsung to suppliers, because its sales have been sucking. It’s also surprising, because, if HTC, which is decidedly in third place in the smartphone wars, isn’t a tier-one customer, then it just leaves us with a two-horse race.
To be fair, Samsung and Apple have separated from the pack for a while, but it’s unfortunate that what could be the best smartphone is being pushed back because suppliers only care about getting components to two companies now. [WSJ]