Rumor mills have mentioned that HTC One M8 Prime might have been shelved or replaced by HTC One M9 Prime model that will be released sometime in 2015.

According to the notorious leakster evleaks, the development of the Prime version has been suspended indefinitely for unknown reasons.

Previous reports have revealed that HTC One M8 Prime will sport a 5.5-inch with 2K full HD display and will be powered by 2.5GHz quad-core Snapdragon processor with 3GB RAM and 3000mAh battery pack.

The leaked design also suggested of a rare combination of aluminum and liquid silicone, dust-proof and waterproof handset.

It was also tipped to run on Android 4.4.3 KitKat and is supposedly the first to come with HTC Sense 6.5, HTC's Android user interface.

And since M8 made some stunning upgrades on photo editing and imaging options, Prime was pitched to carry an updated UltraPixel camera with 18-megapixel unit.

HTC One M8 Prime was also said to feature the following: 4G capable GSM, HSDPA, Cat 6 LTE, nano sim, Bluetooth 4.0 and WiFi 802.11.

Given these killer specs, it is quite disappointing to know that HTC has halted the development of this smartphone/phablet.

But if and when development will commence anytime soon, the target release date could be somewhere between third quarter of the year and the holiday season, also known as the shopping season.

HTC anchored its hopes to regain momentum via the launch of HTC One M8 in the market, but didn't get the traction they expected to propel them to the top of the smartphone warfare.

HTC One M8 featured significant improvements on camera, 5-megapixel front-facing camera and photo editing options, making it a "phone for the hipster".

While the next smartphone or phablet's fate hangs in the balance, HTC has yet to make a big impact that could potentially displace Samsung or Apple.