Last night, HTC revealed that shipments of the One X and EVO 4G LTE have been held up by U.S. Customs for review due to an ITC exclusion order. Now it appears that the EVO 4G LTE's May 18th launch has been affected as a result, as HTC has told Dow Jones Newswires that the device won't make it to Sprint on Friday. Sprint has yet to make an official announcement on the matter. An admin in Sprint's community forums says that the carrier can't provide specific details on EVO 4G LTE availability right now, but they do say pre-order deliveries are on hold and that Sprint will provide a ship date as soon as possible, adding that pre-order customers will still be among the first people to receive the EVO 4G LTE. The information posted by the Sprint admin:
"HTC EVO 4G LTE availability
The U.S. availability of the HTC EVO 4G LTE has been delayed. HTC is working to resolve this issue and appreciates your patience as they work to get products into Sprint channels. We can’t provide specific timing for product availability at this time and we appreciate your patience as HTC works to get products on store shelves as soon as possible.
Pre-order status/availability
Delivery of products for pre-order are on hold and Sprint will provide a ship date as soon as possible. Sprint will maintain the promise for the preorder customers that they will be among the first to receive their HTC EVO 4G LTE units."
It's also worth noting that Sprint has yanked any mention of the EVO 4G LTE's May 18th launch from its website. Instead, Sprint's site now says that the phone is "coming soon" and tells interested customers to come back soon for more details on a national launch. It's definitely a disappointment to hear that the EVO 4G LTE's launch has been affected, especially since there's no word yet on when the device will finally be making its way to Sprint shelves. Stay tuned for more.
UPDATE: We've yet to hear an official statement from Sprint concerning the EVO 4G LTE's launch date, but online retailer Wirefly is reporting that the handset is no longer set to launch on May 18th. The company's tweet is below.
*EVO 4G LTE Update* Due to circumstances beyond our control, the Sprint EVO 4G LTE is no longer slatted for national release on May 18th.
— Wirefly.com (@Wirefly) May 16, 2012
