Verizon Wireless has announced that its customers can finally purchase the HTC One. Previously the popular smartphone was unavailable for Verizon Wireless users, however, on August 22 that will all change when the cell phone provider offers the 4.7-inch display handset to users for $199.99 with a two-year contract.

Introduced in February, the HTC One offers users a large display screen that runs images at 1080p HD. It is a touchscrren smartphone with full 4G LTE support and a quad-core processor. The phone features HTC's UltraPixel camera technology and software as well, making it a lead competitor in the ever growing smartphone market. Since it's debut, the HTC One has received rave reviews form both the tech industry as well as satisfied customers who hail its "high-quality construction and solid performance" according to AllThingsD.

Unfortunately for HTC, the long wait for Verizon customers may have hurt its chances of getting a significant share of the market. It isn't exactly in as good of a place for a release as it would have been five months ago when it launched for AT&T, T-Mobile and Sprint. The new Motorola Droid Ultra and Maxx have come out and are set to go on sale two days before the HTC One hits shelves at Verizon stores across the country. Meanwhile, the Droid Mini will follow a few days later on August 29. The Motorola X and LG G2 are coming soon after that, not to mention the new iPhone coming out in September or the new Samsung Galaxy coming out within a few months. The HTC One now faces stiff smartphone competition that it didn't have when it was getting these great reviews a mere five months ago.

The company seems aware of how overshadowed the phone can become, which is why they've hired A-List actor, and star of the Iron Man and Avengers films, Robert Downey Jr. to give the smartphones some exposure in the public eye with a new ad campaign starring the superhero actor. Meanwhile rumors continue to circulate about a midrange smartphone from HTC coming later in the year.