HTC One S Snapdragon processor downgraded in some markets

The chronic shortage of Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 processors means that HTC has been forced to fit the One S handset with an older chipset in some territories.
The Taiwanese has confirmed that the previous generation S3 processor occupy new handsets in the Asia-Pacific region (save South Korea and Japan) and in some European countries.
US and UK users aren't affected by the shortage, which has already delayed handsets like the Asus PadFone.
HTC says it will mark the One S devices featuring the S3 and the S4 so customers know which version they're receiving.

Pure processing power

In terms of pure processing power, the dual-core Snapdragon S3 is actually faster, clocked at 1.7GHz as opposed to 1.5Ghz on the Snapdragon S4.
However, the newer chip brings faster Adreno 320 graphics for gaming, supports 4G LTE connectivity and is kinder on battery life than the S3.
It is thought that the Samsung Galaxy S3 will, for its US incarnation, also boast the S3 chipset, rather than the quad-core version launched in the UK, because of the 4G LTE support.