Shortage Suply of HTC Evo 4G

Jul 19
13:39

2010

Craig Silcoix

Craig Silcoix

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The actual HTC Evo 4G handset had been an immediate strike, setting the Sprint report for first-day product sales when this has been around since earlier 06, sketching raves through gadget blogs and introducing phone users to the company’s fourth generation cell network.

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It's a business nightmare: you have plenty of customers,Shortage Suply of HTC Evo 4G Articles but not enough of the product. One of the most talked-about and desired new phones — no, not the iPhone 4 — is in short supply. It's HTC's Evo, carried exclusively by Sprint, and the first cell phone in the United States to take advantage of fourth-generation, or 4G, faster speeds for data and video. The HTC Evo 4G handset was an instant hit, setting a Sprint record for first-day sales when it was introduced in early June, drawing raves from gadget blogs and introducing phone users to the company’s fourth generation cell network.

HTC's problems have to do with the limited availability of a display component, but even companies that don't share that problem are cautious about promising too much. Motorola is releasing the well-hyped Droid X for Verizon on Thursday, yet Best Buy won't guarantee first-day availability and Verizon expects shortages, too, PC World reports. But on Sprint's online store, the message "Sold Out: More are on their way" is often attached to the promotional page advertising the EVO 4G. But why? HTC spokesman Dan Nowak said there's no one reason.

"There's no way to really point at widget X and widget Y at this point," Nowak said. "There's very high demand, and we're ramping up supply. Some chips and components are tougher to get than others." While shipments continue on a regular basis, not every outlet is getting the phone, and it cannot be ordered right now from Sprint's website, which says "Check back later. More are on their way."

While prospective Sprint customers found themselves waiting for the first-ever 4G phone, AT&T and Apple introduced the iPhone 4 — a device limited to 3G speeds but matching most of the other features of the Evo with a built-in following of users. In less than a week, more than 1.7 million new iPhones were sold. By comparison, one independent analyst estimated a total of 300,000 Evos were sold. (Sprint does not provide numbers on how many units it sells.)  The Evo shortage continues. In a statement Monday, Evo manufacturer HTC confirmed it can’t keep up with demand.

Samsung Mobile Displays (SMD) and LG Displays represent the only sources for AMOLED panels. "Starting with the Nexus One introduced in January, Android-based smart phones have aggressively adopted high-quality AMOLED displays as a competitive differentiator against the advanced-technology AMLCD screen used in the iPhone," said Vinita Jakhanwal, principal analyst for small and medium displays at iSuppli, in a recent report. "However, rising demand, combined with a limited supply base—has led to the constrained availability of AMOLEDs."

Nowak said that HTC confirmed a week or two ago that it would be expanding its supply base for AMOLED screens.

"We thought we would have more of a head start than we'll end up having," Sprint CEO Dan Hesse told The Wall Street Journal recently. The Journal reported that Samsung is building a new factory to make touch screens, but that it will not be in operation before 2012. HTC, too, is adding more suppliers, the Journal said. "The company is also checking flights to the U.S. to see if it can secure extra, last-minute carrying space to get more phones to Sprint and Verizon shelves as soon as phones are ready," an HTC spokesman told the newspaper.

Consumer Reports said Monday it would not recommend Apple’s newest iPhone because of reception problems caused by its antenna design. Buyers have complained that reception can fade when the phone is held so that a spot is covered on the lower left part of the phone, presumably where the antenna is. Consumer Reports’ tests backed up the complaints and contradicted Apple’s explanations for the signal loss.

“Our findings call into question the recent claim by Apple that the iPhone 4’s signal-strength issues were largely an optical illusion caused by faulty software,” Mike Gikas of Consumer Reports wrote in a blog post Monday.

Apple also had said any phone’s reception would degrade when the phone’s antenna was blocked, but Consumer Reports said it tested several phones that use AT&T’s network and only the iPhone 4 seemed to have the reception issue.