When HTC first introduced us to the One last month, it said that its new flagship smartphone would begin rolling out globally sometime in March. Details on the One's worldwide launch have been somewhat light since then, but today U.K. retailer Clove put up a blog post saying that it'd been told by HTC U.K. that the One has had its launch delayed from March 15 to March 29. HTC has now confirmed to Engadget that global shipments have been delayed except for those belonging to German carrier O2. The company expects to begin filling pre-orders for the One at the end of March, with a broader rollout planned for April. HTC's full statement:

"We will start fulfilling pre-orders by end March in certain markets and will roll out to more markets as we approach April."

While HTC never really gave us a concrete global launch date for the One, today's news is definitely a bit of a bummer for folks that are eager to try out HTC's latest, as many folks will now have to wait until March begins wrapping up before they'll get that chance. None of this means much to those of us in the U.S., of course, as the only details that HTC has announced on that matter is that the One will be offered on AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile. Expect that trio of carriers to announce their own availability information as we get closer to their individual launches. The good news is that we've got a shiny new video to keep you entertained until then, as Aaron just unboxed the retail version of the HTC One. Check it out below.

Via Clove U.K., Engadget