Analyst suggests HTC One sales already peaked, blames next iPhone and delays

Has the HTC One already hit its sales peak? At least one analyst thinks so: Citigroup Global Markets Inc analyst Kevin Chang, told the Taipei Times on Friday that the investment group expects “HTC shipments to peak in May, stay at a similar level in June and start to decline in July.” Even with a well-received product, the issue appears to be one of timing.

HTC One silver featuredIt’s true that HTC was held up from offering the flagship phone by at least a few weeks. The problem was related to component sourcing as early as March. HTC resolved the issue quickly enough for Chang to boost sales expectations from 1 to 1.2 million for the month. That’s a far cry from the 5 million that an anonymous HTC executive said were sold through the first month of availability, however.

With such delays, HTC’s already small window of opportunity closed a little more. The HTC One could have beat Samsung’s Galaxy S 4 to market by weeks, but instead is competing head-on. Samsung says it sold 10 million units in the first month. Making matters worse in Chang’s mind is that consumers are now readying for Apple’s next iPhone iteration. I think it’s a bit early for that, but with Apple’s WWDC event next week, it will surely get some buzz and marketing going to remind people about its iPhone.

Phone Arena raises another good point on HTC’s challenges. Even if the company finds success here in the U.S. with the HTC One, the bigger opportunities are overseas. Too much focus here doesn’t help HTC because the U.S. is heading towards a point of smartphone saturation. Perhaps the rumored HTC One Mini will arrive before Samsung’s Galaxy S 4 Mini in overseas markets and the company gets a sales boost.

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