Update: here's an official statement from Sprint's Community Forums, confirming the May 24 delivery estimate:

Customers who pre-ordered HTC EVO 4G LTE…Your wait is almost over! Sprint expects to begin shipping HTC EVO 4G LTE for arrival on or around Thursday, May 24 to customers who pre-ordered the device online from Sprint. We will provide details on the full national launch as soon as possible. Thank you to everyone who has been patient while waiting for their HTC EVO 4G LTE. We will continue to update this post as additional details are available. To check the status of your pre-order, please visit www.sprint.com/myorder. To join other customers in this discussion, please visit our Community.

Original article: According to Inside Sprint Now, a number of HTC EVO 4G LTEs have cleared US Customs and are on their way to pre-order customers now. Here's a piece of an internal Sprint Customer Care notice set to go out later today, confirming the shipments:

We are pleased to announce that our warehouse has HTC EVO 4G LTE devices to fill pre-orders.

We are no longer accepting pre-order cancellations. What you need to do: Beginning 5/21/12 at 5:00 p.m. Central, tell customers we cannot accept pre-order cancellations.

Our warehouse is processing pre-orders and delivery is expected by 5/24.

If a customer wants to cancel their order: Advise them to wait for delivery of their device. Once received, they can either refuse shipment or call Order Support to process an RMA kit



Here's a screenshot of the actual document, as well:

Image source: Inside Sprint Now

Apparently, US Customs was actually testing single devices from individual shipping containers to ensure all passed "review" (this means one of every few thousand or so) - which honestly makes very little sense given what we know about the EVO 4G LTE's non-infringing status. Still, the pre-digital mentality of agencies like this in the US means a pre-digital screening process, so it doesn't come as much of a surprise.

This notice does not include devices ordered through 3rd-party retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, or RadioShack specifically, but to people who ordered through Sprint directly. However, if you get shipment notice for an EVO 4G LTE from a 3rd-party retailer, be sure to drop us a line!

We'll keep this post updated as we receive more information. The status of AT&T One X shipments remains unknown, but they'll likely be following shortly.

Inside Sprint Now