By Let’s just say I would be incredibly surprised if this actually happened and the fact that the source of this rumor is BerryScoop – a non-Android site with little proven history – I can’t say I’m very confident in the potential they nailed this rumor. They claim that when the HTC Incredible lands on Verizon before the end of March around April 1st, they’ll be viewing it as their version of the Nexus One, and the HTC Droid Eris will be replaced and unavailable by April 1st face an “End Of Life” situation – meaning they’ll halt new orders on the device and let existing inventory diminish.
Here is a supposed screenshot of the HTC Incredible in their inventory system:
This doesn’t make sense to me. The Incredible and Droid Eris are two very different phones with different form factors for different people. I criticized the release of the Devour because it didn’t differentiate itself from the Droid enough and offer customers something different. Removing the Droid Eris from Verizon’s Android lineup would even further homogenize their offering with large touchscreen devices – that isn’t something everyone wants.
UPDATE: The guys at BerryScoop got a bit offended by this article and I’ve updated it to clarify some points they made. My point is that VZW just started offering the device in November and I couldn’t see them “giving up” on it after only a few months – especially when it differentiates their lineup. For that reason I’m not confident in the rumor itself being accurate but I could be wrong. Just providing my personal and immediate thoughts.
Doesn’t make much sense here either with regard to consumer support. If they halt the Eris (insert speculation) would they also halt Eris support? If so then they screw over all of us that jumped on the HTC Droid train.
Then again, do specs of the Incredible and the N1 compare? Incredible could be an Eris upgrade of sorts.
I can’t really put too much behind this considering HTC has yet to officially release 2.1 for the eris, HTC is not one of those companies to just shut off phone support for “older” models. Not only that but it really just came out and supports a different side of the consumer market that the larger more powerful devices don’t…..
The Eris is essentially the Hero right?
Apart from cost, who the hell would want the slow eris/hero over the seemingly identical but faster incredible/nexus one?
Why would Verizon want to sell the same device, just slower, older OS, smaller screen?
I don’t normally do this, but seeing Rob pretty much just gave us the finger.
1. “The Eris will be end of life on April 1st” is what the actual quote was, not it will be unavailable. It only means that Verizon will not be ordering new stock. It could be another 6 months before the units in stock are gone. VZW has warehouses full of phones all over the country.
2. Verizon will continue to support this device just as they do every other device they’ve ever sold. If you have a contract with Verizon, you have support.
3. We do not post unless we trust the source, and are sure that what they have told us is true. So go back and check our track record on that. We usually are correct, and our Verizon sources are rock solid.
Hey, no credit for bringing this rumor to your guys attention? Ouch. :P
It could make sense to me. vZW has the Devour which is the low-spec android phone at this point. Is there need for two? From the looks of things, the Hero/Eris is slowly being phased out for devices already running 2.x (Legend, Desire, Nexus One) on different providers, so why wouldn’t it? If HTC and Google wanted the Hero to remain as is, they would’ve released 2.0 by now for those devices. The delay just further adds to the speculation that the Hero/Eris is reaching the end of its life.
What would the guys at berryscoop benefit from starting a false rumor ??? Those guys are as stand-up and as quality as it gets. Phandroid I’d say to go back and check your sources
I agree with John Bergoon. VZW pulls phones all the time from restocking and then sells them until they run out out of stock, but then FULLY support these pulled models. why would this change with the Eris.
Just curious if you truly read our story. No where did it say “They claim that when the HTC Incredible lands on Verizon before the end of March, they’ll be viewing it as their version of the Nexus One, and the HTC Droid Eris will be replaced and unavailable by April 1st.”
It clearly states the Incredible will launch around April 1st, not before the end of March. And as far as end of life and the Eris, the post doesn’t say it will be unavailable.. it says end-of-life. Simply meaning no more orders from Verizon will placed with HTC.
I have updated the story since it seems there was confusion on what exactly I meant. If it was that confusing, I apologize.
You want to discredit a rumor, by all means.. go ahead..that’s why they are rumors. But posting the wrong information while doing so discredits yourself.
Take it for what you will. But BerryScoop, while a young site..is reporting the information as they see it. Their track record, while short..has been full of win when people have doubted things posted.
@John & @Jason
Touchy touchy. In no way was I “giving you the finger”. I was questioning the accuracy of your sources based on my immediate impressions/opinions on the situation. I’ve updated the article to reflect the valid points you made. Was also a bit thrown off by seeing Android news on a BlackBerry site.
okay so im reading these comments and all I really see is blah blah blah. Do any of you actually no what HTC is doing? Im pretty sure the answer to that questions is a BIG No. Do not discredit something when you have no idea what you are talking about. First of all do not compare specs of HTC and MOTO device its all relative. Also Moto has only released one Device that has somewhat decent specs and that would be the Droid and the Droid is jut a so so device in my eyes. I know for a fact that 2.1 is in development for the Eris and Hero considering I run 2.1 on every Android Device I own, oh and 3.0 on a few others but thats for a different rant. Just because something hits end of life on a carrier does not mean that it will just up and “vanish” it just really means that vzw will not longer order this device which makes sense. The HTC Incredible will be launching around April 1st. So to wrap this up dont discredit Berryscoop with your nonsensical BS. Their info is correct and wherever your “sources” are, they are wrong and most likely just pull it out of their heads like 95% of the blogging world. Enough Said. Good Job BerryScoop.
@Rob
We have been posting news for a lot of tech stuff, including Android for awhile now. Our “supposed” picture of the Verizon inventory system wasn’t the first thing we posted covering Android. Don’t let the name fool you.
Eris offers a wonderful price point for an up scale advanced device. I would imagine that the Incredible would be priced some where around $200 (after rebate) such as the Droid currently is. Taking the Eris out of the picture would create a huge void for those customers who are looking for that value.
I can definitely see room for both devices at the retail level for Verizon.
Huh? Isnt the samsung 810 thats listed on the inventory a GSM phone?How do they figure this is even a verizon inventory listing?
Ha look at these guys from Berry Scoop coming over here and whining. Taking away the Eris would leave a void for a hardware-less keyboard phone that’s priced well. If people like the form factor of the Droid but don’t want to drop the dough on it they can get the Devour. If people like the idea of the Incredible but don’t wanna spend the cash they could get the Eris.
P.S. Stop crying Berry Scoop guys. He posted an article on his site about his opinion. You came here and bashed him for his opinion. My opinion is you guys are wrong.
So let me get this straight, you guys had no problem publishing this picture two weeks ago (http://phandroid.com/2010/02/25/htc-incredible-now-in-verizons-inventory-system/) from the same site and talking about how it is not a surprise to see it showing up in inventory. But now that you have a slightly different opinion the picture is classified as “supposed” and the site has “little proven track record?” I’ve never even heard of the site other than when you or other Android sites linked to it, but you are just making yourselves look dumb here. You can have a different view/opinion without slamming other sites that are trying to put out info.
It’s not the picture that was in question. It’s the suggestion that the Droid Eris will be soon phased out. Maybe you should read the article correctly before posting next time.
All it is, is a rumor. Do not get your nickers in a twist.
@man-eris-m
“Huh? Isnt the samsung 810 thats listed on the inventory a GSM phone?How do they figure this is even a verizon inventory listing?”
….could be that the Samsung u810 is a verizon phone.
http://b2b.vzw.com/productsservices/devices/renown.html
A verizon rep yesterday told me within 2 weeks a new android phone will be there. I went in asking about the nexus one and she dropped that. Could it be the incredible? My guess is so. That would say before April, Verizon has it.
The Droid Eris makes more sense than the Moto Devour. Seriously, the Eris gives Verizon a chance to offer a cheaper Android cell phone to people who wouldn’t have bought a more expensive Droid. My sister is a case in point; she bought an Eris because she didn’t want to drop money on the Droid. But she did end up paying for the data plan which will cost more over the long run. So why would they cut ti off? Oh well…I guess Verizon knows how their sales are going and what is the most popular. I’d rather see them stop selling the 1st gen Blackberry Storm since that thing is just silly compared to the new lineup.
I had some issues with my Eris and took to VZW store… they were going to replace it, but they had no inventory there or any other local store and did not know when more inventory would be coming in… that was last Friday, 1/2. I’m thinking maybe Eris will be replaced with Incredible.