Sprint had previously announced that the original release of the Evo 4G LTE was delayed, thanks no doubt to those pesky customs issues that HTC is facing in its International Trade Commission patent dispute with Apple. It's possible that the issue has been resolved, however, as Sprint has just announced that it expects that it will be able to fulfill pre-orders for the smartphone on May 24th. Then again, Sprint also said that it would "provide details on the full national launch as soon as possible," so the inventory necessary to widely sell Sprint's take on the One X could still be sitting at the border.

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. To access the latest news and device information, visit our Sprint Community page where we’ll be providing regular updates. To check the status of your pre-order, please visit www.sprint.com/myorder.

If the extra week or so of waiting is still just too onerous for you, presumably Sprint's previous instructions for cancelling your pre-order still apply. If you weren't able to pre-order, we'll have to wait and see if this latest change does, in fact, mean that HTC's customizations to its US Android phones are enough to allow them to be imported into the states.

Update: According to an internal memo posted by Inside Sprint Now, the company has stopped accepting cancellation orders for the device, effective today at 5:00pm CST. Those who still wish to cancel their order are reportedly being advised to wait for delivery and refuse the shipment or accept and process a standard return.