Following its recent financial results, HTC really can’t afford to let its latest smartphones go out of stock — but it appears it may not have much choice. The Taiwanese company is reportedly battling a supply issue affecting the new HTC One mini due to a casing shortage.
An HTC executive has confirmed to The Wall Street Journal that the company has sold 5 million HTC One handsets since the device went on sale back in March. That’s not quite the same level of demand Samsung has seen for the Galaxy S4, but it’s still a very good number.
Furthermore, the unnamed executive says demand is still so strong that it is struggling to keep up with orders.
Sharp has this morning announced a ¥10.4 billion ($112 million) investment from Samsung that will provide the latter with a 3% stake in the company. It makes Samsung the biggest individual shareholder in the Japanese display maker, and secures its access to Sharp’s LCD panel supplies.
The investment comes at a time when Sharp has been struggling. The company received a $4.4 billion bailout from the banks in October 2012, and its iPad display orders from Apple were recently cut as consumer demand shifted to the smaller iPad mini, which Sharp is not involved with.
Google’s new Nexus 4 has been a hugely popular device since it first made its debut back in November, but the apparent supply issues surrounding the Galaxy Nexus successor have been well documented. Many would-be customers have been unable to snap up the device due to the short supply, while those who have have been forced to wait up to six weeks for their handset to arrive from Google Play.
What isn’t clear is why the Nexus 4 is so hard to get hold of. Some reports have speculated that LG simply cannot produce enough to meet the overwhelming demand, while others claim Google just didn’t order enough in the first place. So what is the truth behind the Nexus 4? Cathy Robin, director of LG France’s Mobile Communication division, has revealed all.
Despite its lack of LTE, the Nexus 4 has been hugely popular.
Google’s new Nexus 4 smartphone has been a hugely popular handset since making its debut back in November, but supply issues have somewhat spoiled what should have been a successful launch. When the handset is made available through Google Play, it doesn’t take long for stock to disappear again, and those who do get an order in on time are forced to wait weeks for their device to arrive.
Dan Cobley, managing director of Google U.K. & Ireland, says the “scarce” supplies from LG are “unacceptable.” He’s issued an “unreserved apology” to Nexus 4 customers, but says Google hopes to fulfill “pre-Christmas” delivery promises by sending out a new batch of handsets this week.
