It’s confirmed: there will not be a Verizon iPhone available anytime before February 2011.
I know this because I had a 15 minute conversation with a local Verizon rep. while he was selling me a Droid X. I’ll call him Myron to protect my valuable source. This is serious intel.
"Ain't happenin'": A reliable source
“It’s happening, but not anytime soon,” Myron said, “And certainly not in January,” he added for dramatic emphasis.
How was he so sure? He cited two reasons. First, he says that secrets aren’t kept very well at Verizon, and if the phone were truly coming out in January, this would be the best-kept secret the company had ever had.
Secondly, he said that typically, training for major new products begins months in advance of their release, since customers start coming in and calling to inquire about the upcoming change. But there hasn’t been a peep about iPhone training.
These sound like perfectly reasonable conclusions to me.
So I’m discounting the fact that reputable media sources have followed the CDMA chip supply chain to note huge increases in core component sourcing. I’m also ignoring the reports that contracted call centers have been asked to massively ramp up in anticipation of a major launch. And analyst speculation? Poppycock.
Could this conclusion have anything to do with justifying a decision to buy a pricey Droid X (with not much of a discount), because I just couldn’t stomach my POS LG “touchscreen” for one more day? Could it have anything to do with the fact that Myron wanted to close a $350 deal today rather than see a customer walk until January? Nah.
So, draw your own conclusions based on “facts” and “senior management insiders”, but on this one, I’m going with Myron.
Kelly Ford writes random morsels about online marketing, business, and general life in NYC and Berlin.
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You might want to revisit this post! I’m interested to know how this secret was kept so good at Verizon if they aren’t notorious for keeping secrets well. I’m sure if they trained staff at retail stores then info would almost surely be public, but maybe they are training staff same day or the day before.
So I was correct (barely)…while the announcement was made in January, the phone won’t actually be available in stores until February 10th.
I’ve decided to stick with my Droid for now, although I’ll consider the Verizon iPhone 5 when it’s announced later this year.