It leaked in November, that doesn't mean anyone expected it to launch in November.
The S4 came out in March. You'd expect it to be faster. But wait for the S5, which is what it now competes against.
People keep mentioning the 1520. That's one phone. One. The Lumia released before the 1520, the 925, used a 16 month old processor.
Sorry, if you're a specs person, WP8 isn't your answer. You shouldn't be here. WP8 has historically been WAY behind on specs. Does it matter? I don't think so. But for the people here whining about specs, go find another OS. WP8 is not going to be the answer for you. Microsoft has been slow to update the software to allow modern specs, Nokia has been slow to adopt modern specs, and carriers are slow to approve the hardware. The R&D budget is significantly smaller than Samsung's, Qualcomm's incentive to get new hardware to Nokia is well behind its incentive to work with Samsung, and the incentive for any carrier to approve the hardware in a timely manner is well behind the need to have the new Galaxy on the shelf ASAP.
Microsoft and Nokia have never really focused on the specs war and they don't seem to be overly excited about beginning. Apple also doesn't bother, giving arbitrary numbers that can't be easily compared. But, for the person whining about how they need the latest and greatest of any phone, go to the Galaxy. It'll be years before you get a Lumia with the raw power of a new Galaxy.
You keep contradicting yourself. This post would have been very true a year or two ago, but Microsoft and Nokia have seemed to realize that, while WP doesn't need the latest and greatest to operate smoothly, it does need better processors to add better features, make the camera faster, etc, and that shows over the last several months. Microsoft may have been slow to incorporate higher hardware capabilities into the software, but Nokia has been quick to release new devices to take advantage of it. The 1520 came out as soon as quad core and 1080p were supported.
As for there only being one phone that bests the S4 and HTC One, isn't that all we really need to prove our point? Yes it came out after, but it's also BETTER. If it comes out after them, it should be better, and as it turns out, it is! (From a hardware standpoint) Also, Nokia is one company. Companies typically only have one or two flagship devices, and this is currently Nokia's. The Icon will join it to make 2 flagships for Nokia when it comes out, and if it beats the S5 to market, it will still be more powerful than the current Galaxy S4. You might think WP8 isn't the OS for people who are hardware snobs, but Nokia and Microsoft seem to disagree as of late. You can talk about history all you want, but all that really matters is recent history since they've been doing a fine job of catching up lately. You can say they've never focused on the specs war, but their camera hardware and recent adoption of quad core CPUs and 1080p displays seems to disagree with that too. If they want to continue gaining market share from Android and iOS, they're going to need to continue their more recent development path, as lagging behind is a good way to become history.
Most of the people are only complaining because they CARE about the future of Windows Phone, and the Icon releasing back in November, when it was originally rumored to be releasing, would have helped immensely more to pick up market share than releasing right before (or after, who knows at this point) the next Galaxy S, the highest selling phones on the market right now.
Personally, I've owned an HTC Trophy, 2 920's, and 2 928's. I've since taken leave of WP to give Android a shot with an S4, and decided Android just isn't for me. The Icon is my next phone unless it gets pushed back beyond another flagship WP on Verizon or unless it never gets released. I've been using WPs for awhile and am a Microsoft shareholder. I just want to see them do well and gain market share. I think we can all agree this delay hasn't helped.