Just do the math. For a major new release you need one 24-hour patch, one 48-72 and one one week patch. New versions are disproportionately released towards the end of the business day, and favoring the end of the week. If HTC wants to have a merry Christmas away from the office, they'll need to release it around a week before the anticipated "Holiday break time".
If it doesn't come out in the next couple days, we'll need to save our pennies and send some holiday care packages to the HTC offices.