"Blame it on the camera," is the apparent narrative behind the funky release date for the HTC One, which new reports said will likely take place late April 2013.

That's roughly two months after the flagship Android smartphone was made public by its Taiwanese manufacturer, erasing too the lead time HTC has initially aimed to enjoy over top phone sellers Apple and Samsung.

According to Gotta Be Mobile, the earliest that the HTC One will hit global store shelves is late April, nixing prior indications from HTC that selected releases will happen in UK, Germany and Taiwan later this week.

Citing information from phone retailers, GBM reported that buyers can only get hold of the HTC One beginning the last week of April, a prospect affecting all regions where the new handset is scheduled for release.

The culprit, it appears, is the camera adjustments that HTC needed to implement. "The firmware for the flagship smartphone has been updated, allowing it to capture better looking photos than expected," UberGizmo said on its report.

HTC has been touting the camera features of its HTC One as the best among its class and its intricate assembly is also causing major production glitches, preventing manufacturers from meeting the deadline set by HTC.

With the delay, HTC now faces the prospect of colliding head-in with Samsung's Galaxy S4, which reports said will commence its commercial debut by late April.

Then a few months after, HTC One will have to worry another major release as Apple reportedly plans to unleash the iPhone 5S and its budget version between June and July.

All told, it will be a difficult retail scenario for the Taiwan-based mobile phone maker, having to address threats from the two tech giants, which have been the dominant mobile device players in the past few years.

The looming situation sets HTC back to its former predicament - figuring out how to best market its products while inching its way to the smartphone centre-stage, which to date is either an iPhone or Samsung Galaxy show.