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We have already seen it with the HTC Incredible’s apparently endless delay, now it has caused supplies of their EVO 4G to go sporadic, or dry up completely. The problem is the screen…first the advanced AMOLED display of the Incredible, now the EVO’s TFT. There just aren’t enough screens between four and five inches to go around.

Why? Well, basically the problem right now is that all the screens that companies like HTC use are made by a single company, Samsung…and Samsung is also a competitor, currently releasing its own line of hotly anticipated smartphones that require, you guessed it, AMOLED and TFT screens between four and five inches.

Samsung is currently trying to balance their own production needs with fulfilling outside contracts for this essential component. Thus far I have not heard any claims that Samsung is throttling HTC’s phones on purpose, but the longer this situation goes on the more likely it is that HTC will play the “unfair competition” card.

To their credit Samsugn is investing in a new $2.2 Billion factory just to make smartphone screens, but it won’t be online until 2012 at the earliest. HTC is also not standing still, they are negotiating with Sony to try to make up the difference in screens but it is unclear how successful the negotiations, or the Sony technology will be. A key problem is that the worldwide recession and the market conditions last year caused a lot of companies to lay off workers and shut down factories and production lines that are needed now..but they take time to bring back.

In the mean time. Sprint is fuming over the EVO 4G shortage, and have them listed as backordered indefinitely on the website. The big selling point for the EVO was that it made use of Sprint’s 4G network which is up and running ahead of its competitors. However, with no phone to use the innovative technology, it is mostly dormant while the other telcos are catching up fast. Verizon plans to have 4G running by the end of the year, and AT&T soon after.

In the meantime Sprint is still spreading its 4G coverage to new cities, New York is next…and they are hoping they have some phones ready to make use of it.

(Source: WSJ)