[tekhna]

All sorts of yikes right there. HTC's got a lot of digging out to do.

[Golfdriver97]

HTC is losing marketshare quickly. Mainly due to advertising. Mainly because with the exception of a few phones, most are bloated with problems.

[mcpricex]

I have been following this story very closely for the past two weeks. We knew over a week ago that they had not produced as many units as intended and that it was down to component supply, namely the camera, and that was down to the supplier not achieving targets. There was not a supply issue with the aluminum body, this is a chinese whisper that grew out of HTC's own marketing when they described the manufacturing process, taking 200 minutes to mill each body from a single piece of metal a la Apple.

The simple fact that proves this story wrong is me typing this reply on a UK retail supplied HTC One. They did launch on time albeit only the 32gb silver variant and only through certain outlets.

I thought reporters were supposed to check their facts?

[tekhna]

HTC is losing marketshare quickly. Mainly due to advertising. Mainly because with the exception of a few phones, most are bloated with problems.

Well, whatever the cause, at least HTC is honest about it. That quote about not being first-tier comes from an HTC exec.

[reddragon72]

I replied on the Verge and I'll do it here. I don't care the what reason it is. I know that units are ready to sell so lets get them sold. Being in the US I have dealt with missing out due to stock limitations. All my local store needs is one because I'll camp out.

HTC - I'm on the Sprint network and ready to buy, the ball is in your court.

[Golfdriver97]

Well, whatever the cause, at least HTC is honest about it. That quote about not being first-tier comes from an HTC exec.

Either way, it's HTC's past failings that got it to this point. I personally don't like HTC, but that doesn't mean I want to see it go away, either. Something that I think would help them is if they had a phone that spanned across multiple carriers. Let's take the EVO. I think it's a good phone, but it's only available through Sprint. My mom has a Moto, and hates it. I am trying to suggest HTC, but she had Verizon, and their HTCs suck....

[mstrblueskys]

Either way, it's HTC's past failings that got it to this point. I personally don't like HTC, but that doesn't mean I want to see it go away, either. Something that I think would help them is if they had a phone that spanned across multiple carriers. Let's take the EVO. I think it's a good phone, but it's only available through Sprint. My mom has a Moto, and hates it. I am trying to suggest HTC, but she had Verizon, and their HTCs suck....

What is wrong with the DNA?

[tekhna]

What is wrong with the DNA?

The power button being located on the top of the phone. That's such a minor thing that's such a huge derp. Mediocre battery.

[Ry]

Ouch.

[BigDinCA]

The power button being located on the top of the phone. That's such a minor thing that's such a huge derp. Mediocre battery.

Where do you think the power button is on the One? Or where it was on pretty much every other HTC device? And while I don't have a DNA I have a couple friends who do and they rave about the battery life. I've seen lots of folks coming around these parts to refute the poor battery life statement as well, so I don't know that the battery life there is that bad.

[fernandez21]

I don't get this. Unless HTC made a smaller order than some one else or were late on a past payment, I don't see why they would lose top tier status. If the suppliers job is supplying one component, then what does it matter if you customer sold his last order, as long as you get paid for your work?

[jiggyb21]

Taken at face value this statement is a little ridiculous.

[Rizz1-2]

Where do you think the power button is on the One? Or where it was on pretty much every other HTC device? And while I don't have a DNA I have a couple friends who do and they rave about the battery life. I've seen lots of folks coming around these parts to refute the poor battery life statement as well, so I don't know that the battery life there is that bad.

My battery life is fantastic on my DNA, better that I thought it would be when I purchased it. The power button on top, while weird becomes second nature as you might expect. Now I kind of like it just because I don't accidentally lock it when going for the volume button like I sometimes do with my Nexus 7.

Anyways, the story isn't all that surprising. They have obviously been struggling to stay profitable. What I didn't know though is that suppliers could down or upgrade your status and hold up production. I guess I always assumed if you put in an order for a couple million parts that it would be filled by some agreed upon date. Unless of course the demand is higher than expected...

[tramamp]

I don't get this. Unless HTC made a smaller order than some one else or were late on a past payment, I don't see why they would lose top tier status. If the suppliers job is supplying one component, then what does it matter if you customer sold his last order, as long as you get paid for your work?

HTC's needs become less important when Samsung tells a manufacturer "if you don't fill OUR order on time we'll take our next 50,000,000 orders to your competitor."

[Ry]

HTC's needs become less important when Samsung tells a manufacturer "if you don't fill OUR order on time we'll take our next 50,000,000 orders to your competitor."

Sounds familiar -

At that time, Apple was almost singlehandedly dominating the smartphone supply chain and it took an enormous commitment — the kind of commitment that only a giant like HP could offer — to tip the scale. "We told HP we needed better displays [for the Pre 3]. They'd come back and say, ‘Apple bought them all. Our suppliers tell us we need to build them a factory if we want the displays' and they weren't willing to put the billion dollars upfront to do that," one source said. "The same thing happened with cameras. We'd pick a part, turns out Apple picked the same part. We were screwed left and right." Without HP's full financial support to buy its way into relevance, Palm was essentially left to pick from the corporate parts bin — a problem that would strike particularly hard later on with the TouchPad.

[jiggyb21]

I don't think it works like that. These suppliers sign contracts, I'm sure with some stipulations and expectations inside. People in the industry value a good reputation. If a supplier becomes known for dropping it's clients because somebody offers more money or makes a threat that does not bode well for them securing other jobs. I also think we here on these forums put way too much emphasis on what a company(Namely Samsung) did last year. They are definitely the most influential name in the business right now but I don't think they run everything behind the scenes. Now having said that, I've seen stories in the past where Samsung was making parts for other companies and in that case I can definitely see them making parts for themselves first. Wouldn't it be funny to find out Samsung was supplying the parts HTC is waiting on.

EDIT- my post apparently got hung up for an hour on my phone. I attempted to post before the Apple post was made. I'll add though that its kind of to my point. Samsung doesn't haven't the same pull Apple did when they were demanding all the best parts. Maybe they will some day, but that kind of speaks to my previous point that I think these suppliers know that in a couple short phone generations anyone could be on top. Besides it sounds like the suppliers had already allotted for Apple by the time Palm tried to place an order. If that's the case with HTC I think it's still their fault.

[Golfdriver97]

What is wrong with the DNA?

I will agree it has some good features. But, how are you supposed to sell the same numbers that Samsung has when the DNA is only available on one carrier? Me personally, I like having a removable battery and an SD card slot.

[JHBThree]

The power button being located on the top of the phone. That's such a minor thing that's such a huge derp. Mediocre battery.

You mean on the top of the phone like 90% of smartphones out there?

The battery life is not mediocre. That you believe that tells me you don't own one and have never talked with anyone that has. The battery life is better than the S3's by quite a bit.

[Kevin O'Quinn]

I don't get this. Unless HTC made a smaller order than some one else or were late on a past payment, I don't see why they would lose top tier status. If the suppliers job is supplying one component, then what does it matter if you customer sold his last order, as long as you get paid for your work?

If another company comes along and wants to buy all of your stock of a particular item, and offers you a premium, wouldn't you be tempted to do it? Also, could be that the camera module is having low yields, and we also know that the aluminum body takes ~3 hours of machining to make.

[Acelx]

It seems like only Android OEMs seem to have problems launching their devices.. i mean.. Google couldn't keep the Nexus 4 in stock for 10mins.. let's not mention the Nexus 7 pre-order drama..

Should we not expect this type mess from a company who is fighting to stay alive?

[JHBThree]

If another company comes along and wants to buy all of your stock of a particular item, and offers you a premium, wouldn't you be tempted to do it? Also, could be that the camera module is having low yields, and we also know that the aluminum body takes ~3 hours of machining to make.

That 220 minutes quoted is for the entire phone.

Also, the camera module is understandable, because this type of sensor is totally custom and hasn't been in any mobile device yet.

[smooth3006]

Ill still wait until google io to make my choice of a new phone. Im not sold on either the s4 nor the htc one at this point. I may look into moto and hopefully another nexus. I still say this aint good for htc but theres nothing we can do about it.

[JHBThree]

Ill still wait until google io to make my choice of a new phone. Im not sold on either the s4 nor the htc one at this point. I may look into moto and hopefully another nexus. I still say this aint good for htc but theres nothing we can do about it.

There won't be a nexus until October.

[smooth3006]

There won't be a nexus until October.

Not what i heard but regardless im going to wait. Ill make a decision by summer.

[JHBThree]

Not what i heard but regardless im going to wait. Ill make a decision by summer.

There will be a tablet. There will not be a new nexus phone until October.