Verizon’s first Windows Phone 7 launched today, sold out in some locations?

By Tom Warren, on 26th May 11 1:49 pm with 50 Comments

Verizon’s highly anticipated HTC Trophy 7 device launched on Thursday.

The HTC 7 Trophy is the first Verizon Windows Phone handset, available online today and in stores June 2. Customers who purchase a Windows Phone from Verizon before July 15 will be eligible to receive a free Xbox 360 game. Customers can choose between popular titles including “Halo Reach,” “Kinect Sports,” and “Lode Runner.”

A quick look on Verizon’s site on Thursday shows that the device is unavailable for ordering and appears to be out of stock already in some states. WinRumors readers wrote in on Thursday to complain they were unable to purchase the new device despite the official launch today. A number of cities in New York are unable to purchase the device at the time of writing.

Verizon's Trophy already sold out?

Verizon’s first Windows Phone device has witnessed a tough early start into the market. Originally expected in March, the device has been delayed on a number of occasions. Verizon’s leaked Spring roadmap originally revealed an April 15 launch date for Verizon’s HTC Trophy device but the date came and passed. The delays have frustrated many Verizon customers who are keen to purchase a Windows Phone 7 device.

Verizon’s Windows Phone ships with Microsoft’s “NoDo” copy and paste update. “NoDo” is Microsoft’s first platform update, which also includes improved application start-up and resume times. Verizon recently posted support articles referencing Microsoft’s own fixes for known Windows Phone 7 issues. Verizons’s HTC 7 Trophy Windows Phone device was spotted in the wild in late February. Further photos leaked in March following confirmation that the device includes all of Verizon’s branding, even a “My Verizon Mobile” application.

Wtf808

really?
GP007

But how many phones did Verizon even order? 50k? 100k? We really don’t know what this means at this point.
GP007

But how many phones did Verizon even order? 50k? 100k? We really don’t know what this means at this point.
- Anonymous
  
  I hope they ordered a lot and this means there is some demand for it.
- Anonymous
  
  I hope they ordered a lot and this means there is some demand for it.
- Anonymous
  
  I don’t think they would order anything in less than 1 – 3 million increments. If they only did 50-100k the price of the phone would be too high at that low of volume. Now the 1-3 million is usually over a period of time, so it could easily be 100k/month for 12-18 months (or whatever they chose the product cycle to be..)
- Anonymous
  
  That’s irrelevant. What IS relevant is that they underestimated the demand of this phone SIGNIFICANTLY. It’s not even in stores yet and is selling out in spots. Not even in stores!
  
  Amazing how out of touch they are …
http://twitter.com/MichielPapp Michiel Papp

Good to hear. At least a little proof that the wp7 platform has life in it. Sold out is good news for the people at MS (or bad if the stocks were verry small :p)
http://twitter.com/MichielPapp Michiel Papp

Good to hear. At least a little proof that the wp7 platform has life in it. Sold out is good news for the people at MS (or bad if the stocks were verry small :p)
http://twitter.com/yardmanflex yardmanflex

even if the stock is small when they sold out….if will drum up demand for the phone as it should…wp7 rocks.
Henry Lu

Microsoft need something revolutionary.They ought to Integrate Skype into all phones and eliminate voice calling function, leaving only VoIP. Then partner with Sprint, Cricket, USCellular (and maybe TMobile if the deal collapses) and other small carriers to offer data-only plans. Traditional calling and texting will be phased out eventually anyway, it’s just the carriers who don’t want to lose all the profit they get from them, since they cost virtually nothing to provide. This sort of thing would give Microsoft and Sprint a huge edge over rivals, a real unique selling point.If only a major carrier would be willing to take the leap……Ideas?
- Entegy
  
  Whoa what? Don’t think US only. And even then I don’t think the carriers would accept a VOIP-only phone, and neither would consumers. You’re talking at least a decade ahead of time here. Traditional talk and text is here for a quite a while longer, especially for countries who’s cellular networks are overpriced and underpowered *coughcoughcanadacoughcough*
  
  Integrate Skype? Yes. Only option? Hell no.
- Henry Lu
  
  The US is just the easiest example…would work anywhere with enough incentive. Why should traditional talk and text still be here? It doesn’t take a huge amount of data to stream voice connections or messaging. Calls to home phones can be rerouted and connected in the same way programs like Skype do already. Other than the crazy profit margins carriers get from them, what’s so good about traditional talk and text that make them so special?
  
  And I’m not talking about just adding a Skype app, I’m literally talking about “Skype Phones”. Complete VoIP, with of course the ability to connect to any phone, VoIP or not.
- Anonymous
  
  Dude seriously, you don’t think Windows Phone 7 isn’t already revolutionary? Have you seen/experienced the UI?
  
  I do agree they need to make it available to the smaller carriers STAT! Especially MetroPCS.
- Henry Lu
  
  You love the UI. I love the UI. The 1.6million people who bought one in Q1 2011 love the UI. The majority of the people don’t though, and they won’t unless Microsoft can do something even more amazing.
- http://twitter.com/efjay01 Ef Jay
  
  Majority of people dont like the UI? Fact or speculation? What’s hindering WP7 is Microsoft’s poor advertising which is not telling anyone about WP7 and then the store rep fanboys who actively steer people away from WP7 even when they ask for it.
- http://arukun14.com Tim Fangon
  
  +1
  
  ATT stores in my area have reps like that… They would constantly push the customer towards something else (usually the iPhone) when they look at Blackberry, Android, or WP7 devices.
- http://www.twitter.com/wixostrix WixosTrix
  
  When my sister went to get her iPhone 4 a couple months ago at ATT, the rep she had tried to steer her away from it. Idk what he tried to get her to buy but she really wanted the iPhone
- Tom
  
  Store reps will push consumers towards whatever phone pays them the highest commission.
- Tom
  
  Store reps will push consumers towards whatever phone pays them the highest commission.
- Tom
  
  Store reps will push consumers towards whatever phone pays them the highest commission.
- phil jay
  
  They don’t care about the UI as long as it isn’t hindering them. There are many things missing in WP7, some apps stopped working(which is probably the apps developers faults), and search as well as maps quality is really shitty in europe. I love wp7 because im a developer and some kind of UI fetishist.
- Henry Lu
  
  That’s my entire point. If Microsoft had something as attractive and unique as this, it would FORCE people to know about it, and for store reps to recommend it. It’s better than Android and Apple already, but since it’s late, it needs to be EVEN BETTER to knock them off their perches.
- Henry Lu
  
  That’s my entire point. If Microsoft had something as attractive and unique as this, it would FORCE people to know about it, and for store reps to recommend it. It’s better than Android and Apple already, but since it’s late, it needs to be EVEN BETTER to knock them off their perches.
- M_Lyons10
  
  Yeah, this is really bad anymore. Some geeky nit wit at a Verizon store likes Android and that’s all they push. It’s absurd. I actually had a rep tell a friend of mine that Microsoft won’t be releasing phones any longer so not to bother…
- Henry Lu
  
  Okay meant to say “don’t yet”……sorry for the confusion.
- Ratros
  
  Well, Actually I think the cause of the bad start of WP7 isn’t the lack of “revolutionary” changes… It’s a combination including the delay caused by WM7, poor marketing, limited operators and Microsoft’s immaturity on running a mobile OS. Besides, the game isn’t over and Microsoft still have changes.
  
  Actually I doubt whether there’s still some revolutionary changes available for this period. iPhone rocks because it defines smartphones as a user-friendly tool instead of a geek machine, therefore it becomes revolutionary- it forces the whole industry to the right way. Since we’re heading on the right way now ,what’s Microsoft can do is just pushing it forward – Updates (or Fixes) shouldn’t be called revolutions.
  
  Emm… What’s about 3D-Display or Mind Control? That’s a revolution but it still needs a lot of time.
- Syrious
  
  I’m pretty sure the first release of the iphone had a lack of revolutionary changes, and also a line of BS from apple when the 4th gen products arrived with horrible ingenuity(antennae issues), not to mention the lack of copy and paste and multi-tasking.
  
  any ways – keep your iphone, at least we are promised a list of updates to add features rather than being forced to buy next years device with those features included from jobs.
- Ratros
  
  No… I have dumped my iPhone like decades ago and I love my HTC Arrive.
  What Microsoft does is great… It’s a giant step forward, but it’s not a revolution of the industry.
- Anonymous
  
  I agree with the poor marketing. Microsoft has never had as much dedication with marketing Zune and Windows Phone than it has with Xbox and Windows.
- Henry Lu
  
  Yeah that also aligns with my point somewhat. Improvements to the phone UI, features and so on are limited by this point. Stuff like 3D is just added fluff. They’ll make it more attractive, sure, but won’t give it the same sort of kick that data-only plans would…
  
  Not saying WP7 is doomed by any means. I mean, I could easily see it outpacing Apple (dunno about Android though) in the next 5 years or so. But this would REALLY get it going.
- Anonymous
  
  It’s not that people don’t like it, not everyone already discovered the potential of this UI.
- http://twitter.com/purevibz jack frost
  
  This is a troll he copy and paste this from another post
- Henry Lu
  
  Not a troll, just wanted to put the idea out on different places. Glad to know you read the same sites as me though.
- http://twitter.com/Chassit Kane Gao
  
  Dude, this is delusional. Don’t just think about the US. This is exactly where Microsoft have been doing wrong since the dawn of time. If you set one step out of the US of A, especially to some Asian countries, you might find Bing is crap, Zune not available, Xbox Live doesn’t exist, even the “Anytime Update” in desktop Windows doesn’t work.
  
  Microsoft needs something revolutionary, definitely, and WP7 is already well on its way there by showing the world some original UI design and more importantly how to organize an OS together. For example, deep social integration (even deeper in Mango) without making the whole thing hard to use is really state of the art.
  
  But make VoIP phone and eliminate traditional voice calling? That’s so not getting the job done. If “revolutionary” means just something different from everything else, be it useful or not, then Microsoft could also build a mobile OS that has no GUI. It will be one heck of revolution. The thing is, there ARE other countries on this planet besides US, and the cellular data bill in some countries might not be so cheap, and doing everything VoIP might not be really a great idea. For example, I’m right now sitting in this little country called “People’s Republic of China”. We have 3 carriers here, none of which offer “unlimited” plan for anything. All 3 have outrageous plans that cap at over US$100 per month (CNY 650+), and even those don’t give you unlimited data, SMS or voice call. VoIP everything is not very feasible to us low lives (the majority of Chinese people) who are still living on even cheaper plans ranging from $10 to $20. My $10 plan on China Unicom (the most popular 3G carrier) has only 300MB of data, about half hour free voice, and less than 100 free SMS per month. For every gig outside my free data allowance, it takes another $15. Right, $10 and $15 are pretty big deal here. Say my salary is more or less above “average” level in the state capital, which is like exactly $1000 per month. That’s the carrier cost to us.
  
  To make it even nicer, here comes Skype. VoIP itself is barely legal in China. Mobile carriers do not like to see anyone else doing it since it reduces their profit, and the state government don’t want it either since it makes the internet a bit harder to “manage” (our notorious censorship). We’ve had multiple VoIP service providers shutdown by the law, and the 3 carriers are not keen on starting VoIP either. They are having fat profits from voice/text right now, why bother with something that does not seem to be so profitable and eats into the available bandwidth when there’s still good money to earn? By the way, Skype itself was almost ruled illegal in December 2010, and almost commanded shutdown. Right now VoIP is a huge minefield that nobody dares to tread.
  
  With all those talkie talkie, I’m just trying to say that… look elsewhere a bit, OK? Yeah this is only China, small country, with only 1.3 bilion souls and according to the latest statistics we just have a petty 900 million mobile phone users. Ha! Pathetic market, ain’t worth the effort biting it, eh? Similar cound be said about our neighbor India I guess…
  
  And did we mention Africa and such? Those things them been talking about all the time, “emerging market” or wossname?
- Henry Lu
  
  Lol that’s funny. I’m living in China atm too right now. Got a neat little plan with China Unicom with 1GB of 3G data a month.
  
  They did do a little crackdown on VoIP in December, but that was mainly on new, unauthorized startups. Skype has long been officially published in China with the help of TOM, ever since 2004 or 2005 I believe.
  
  I only used the US as an example because 1.I know quite a good deal about the situation and 2.It’s more likely to be implemented in the US than somewhere like China. Dunno about the UK or other places in Europe, but they seem to have better infrastructure than the US, so it might be more possible.
  
  I agree Microsoft seriously needs to push WP7 internationally. That should be accomplished with Nokia though, since people in places like China, India and even Africa are ridiculously loyal to the Nokia brand even today.
  
  Where Nokia won’t help at all is the US market, where they don’t have much market share already and Apple/Android are entrenched.
ss

Looks like the ‘Add to Cart’ button is up there now.
johndotcom83

i will be getting one, as soon as July 5th rolls around
Anonymous

i can imagine how is going to be with nokia!
TryllZ

If this article is to be believed, then I like the part after the comma interesting, seems like the sales is definitely what gartner predicts

WP7 DEVICES SOLD OUT, PLEASE PRE-BOOK FRO NEW DEVICES OR YOU WONT GET ANY !!
Mark

Sounds like it didn’t sell out, they just had enough (any?) inventory. This seems to be a recurring theme since launch. I’m getting the sense that neither the carriers nor the OEMs are really focusing on WP7. Good think MS has Nokia coming on stream.
Mark

Sounds like it didn’t sell out, they just had enough (any?) inventory. This seems to be a recurring theme since launch. I’m getting the sense that neither the carriers nor the OEMs are really focusing on WP7. Good think MS has Nokia coming on stream.
- http://twitter.com/NorrathReaver Shane Nokes
  
  I can guarantee you that the carriers have enough inventory. When I went in to pick up my HTC Arrive here on campus right when it launched the Sprint store was chock full of them. Note: We are usually the last to get items in stock because we fulfill orders for the retail channel first.
  
  So if the retail channel is running out of stock that means they are selling them as fast as they can get them.
http://twitter.com/mcakins McAkins Online

Waiting for Nokia here baby. Bring on the War! Awesome hardware specs coupled with awesome UI = Win+Win!
Who says we don’t party on MS platform!
Anonymous

I ordered mine the very INSTANT the VZW website started selling them. I’ve put off each new device since March even though I had to move to my 4 year old Windows Mobile 6.x phone because my Android broke. I wasn’t impressed with small battery life in the Thunderbolt and a $300 price tag for “super amoled plus” brick that is the Droid Charge seemed like very over priced. The only reason I went with WP7 is to spite VZW’s CEO and everyone else that thinks the platform will die. I WOULD much rather have the Galaxy S2 for it’s processor and SAP screen.

This news it’s sold out has me hopeful I’ll be able to upgrade to some decent hardware and keep WP7. At this point the only thing that Microsoft has to worry about is poor hardware support from the carriers. Still, it cost me a clean $150 with an instant rebate so I’ll take the year old hardware with the promise of Mango on the horizon and save the extra dough for some apps!
MS Biz Apps

I called around and 1 of the 3 stores was sold out, the 2 that were not had 1 left. I asked how many did they get in they told me every store got 1. Looks like the we got are hope up for nothing, I not sure even Nokia can help us. :(
- zzz
  
  It’s currently online sales only. Apparently stores got them for display but are not supposed to direct sell until June 2nd. There were some exceptions according to some people.
- MS Biz Apps
  
  Well I decide to pull the trigger on Android, got tired or waiting for any good hardware with WP7
- Guest
  
  Troll.
M_Lyons10

I hope this makes Verizon feel like idiots… Maybe they’ll get off their asses and get more WP7 devices out now… Idiots…