HTC says Samsung is constraining its component supply as a ‘competitive weapon’

HTC’s latest flagship Android phone, the HTC One, has been a big success for the struggling smartphone vendor. The company confirmed recently that it had sold approximately 5 million units into sales channels as of last week, and if it hadn’t been for component shortages, HTC likely would have sold even more handsets. Regarding component shortages, it’s not always a production issue that causes problems in HTC’s supply chain and an interesting tidbit emerged earlier this week as HTC president for the North Asian region, Jack Tong, spoke to members of the press in Taiwan.

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Just two short years ago, HTC was a leading smartphone vendor. Samsung has since grown to dominate the industry alongside Apple, and the company seemingly isn’t afraid to step on a few toes in order to ensure that it stays on top.

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As HTC’s Jack Tong recounted his company’s troubles following the launch of the HTC Desire, he slipped in a pretty huge accusation. Tong said that the Desire initially launched with an AMOLED display supplied by Samsung. After the phone started gaining momentum and sales picked up, the executive says Samsung suddenly couldn’t supply it with panels anymore.

“We found that key component supply can be used as a competitive weapon,” Tong told reporters, according to Focus Taiwan. HTC ended up having to redesign the Desire and relaunch it without the Samsung-built AMOLED displays.

This article was originally published on BGR.com