HTC Thunderbolt Release Date ‘Moved’ to March 10, Not Coming Tomorrow
According to a few loose-lipped Best Buy retail employees I spoke with, the HTC Thunderbolt will go on sale on March 10, not tomorrow (March 4) as had been previously slated. The March 4 HTC Thunderbolt release date was the target as recently as late last week, but apparently not all of the ‘politics’ have been resolved.
The HTC Thunderbolt si the first phone to run on Verizon’s insanely fast 4G LTE network. In some markets we’ve seen 4G LTE modems hit speeds of 16mbps and higher using a dongle plugged into a laptop. The HTC Thunderbolt has the potential to be the speediest phone in America when it arrives.
But of course, the Thunderbolt has to actually go up for sale before we can talk about speeds too much. According to Best Buy employees at three separate Best Buy retail locations, the HTC Thunderbolt is in Best Buy’s sales system with a scheduled release date of Thursday March 10.
Best Buy began taking pre-orders for the HTC Thunderbolt and as of today still is. Obviously it wouldn’t make a whole lot of sense to take pre-orders just hours ahead of the Thunderbolt’s debut.
Those who have placed their Thunderbolt pre-orders at Best Buy may get a rude awakening when the phone finally does go on sale. Best Buy has been taking Thunderbolt pre-orders with a $50 deposit. A special gift card is given in return, but that doesn’t guarantee you’ll actually get a Thunderbolt on launch date. According to the reps I spoke to, they have no idea how many HTC Thunderbolt units they’ll get in the initial shipment at each store and there’s been a ton of interest in the device. If there are more pre-orders than actual Thunderbolts, they’ll be sold to those with reservations on a first-come, first-serve basis.
An HTC representative had told us that the Thunderbolt would be released on March 4, barring any further ‘politics’ between Verizon and its partners. He insisted the phone was ready to, at least from HTC’s point of view. He showed us his demo Thunderbolt, but it did not have LTE activated.
The HTC Thunderbolt was introduced in early January at CES 2011. The device is very slick and we spent a lot of time playing with it. You can read more about the HTC Thunderbolt’s specs and details here.
The HTC Thunderbolt is also being sold by Verizon stores, but the ones I spoke with are not taking pre-orders. Verizon has yet to make any official announcements about the HTC Thunderbolt’s availability. In fact, the wireless carrier’s asked excited HTC Thunderbolt fans to ‘move on to other topics’ on its Twitter account. Verizon still hasn’t announced anything through its special HTC Thunderbolt alerts page either. Verizon pulled the HTC Thunderbolt commercial from its YouTube channel last week. Verizon’s CTO insisted that the HTC Thunderbolt will be released very soon. Hopefully, March 10 qualifies as soon.
Myself, my wife, and my plumber hope it’s the 10th…
The thunderbolts just a government conspiracy
As a bestbuy retail employee, we have no idea when the phone will be released. We have been pre-selling the phone and it is featured in our March buyers guide but no official release date has been announced. I also live with two verizon call center customer service reps and there has been no internal announcement either. The rumored reason for the wait is a battery issue. Beta testing has concluded that the phone gets only a few hours of battery life when operating in an LTE area. The phone does not have dual cores, it’s basically an evo with the capabilities of faster data speeds in LTE areas. If you truly want the next generation in smart phones, wait for the motorolla bionic.
that is a smart move, smells like the Thunderbolt will have some serious issues.
Has anyone noticed HTC stopped advertising the “Thunderblunder” and as of last Sunday went back to advertising the HTC Incredible? Has anyone noticed Verizon isn’t advertising the “Thunderblunder” anymore? We need to stop hoping for a new rumor and look at what is going on. The Verizon CTO who is in the best position to know how ready the 4G system told stockholders the first 4G phone would be released before the second half of the year. Figure it out. Big 4G problems.
I spoke with a Verizon customer service rep, and she said they expected Thunderbolt to be released in April.
I spoke with a guy at the Seven Eleven that knows a guy that knows another guy that knows another guy and he said the Thunderbolt does not exist. This is top secret information. WTF.
Its a conspiracy. The Thunderbolt does not exist. Verizon how could you do this to us. I feel violated.
@ jr the jerk off. Yo jr. Maybe you will get your Thunderbolt as a stocking stuffer on Christmas day 2057 while wearing your depends. Maybe your gran kids can play with it then. Ha ha .
I wonder if Verizon i reading the blogs and noticing the hostility developing by their customers? But then I wonder if they care with all the money they make off of us, probably not. Nearly $1,000.00 a year we pay for their service is obsurd and they are planing on raising rates with a Tiered rating plan… just wonderful.
When the F is this device going to get released.
When VW feels they F’d us around enough and not one minute sooner.
It is so competitive. I am sure Verizon is taking a hit over this. Everyone I talk to hates Verizon. Wow! WTF.
The tb is being released on the 17th and Santa Clause is coming to town on the same day. WTF. No way that is going to happen. Verizon has dropped the ball on the tb release and has taken the wind out of its sail. HTC and Verizon could have turn the tb into a blockbuster and now it looks like it is going to be a huge bust. The threat of the thunderstorm has past. A lot of rumbling and no big thunder.
Use logic, not false rumors to figure it out.
Verizon has had great sales numbers for the 1st. Quarter for its stockholders with the launch of the iphone 4, Moto ZOOM and iPad 2. Their sales numbers for the second quarter can’t drop so they will wait until the 1st two weeks of April or the second quarter to release the Thunderblunder. it is all about the bottom line and with the 2nd quarter only weeks away, they know customers will wait. Look for rate increases in the 3rd quarter. They have had plenty of time to fix their 4G phone network problems. If you look at the speed ratings for Verizons vs. Sprints 4g network, they are equal. If you look at the coverage areas for Sprint vs. Verizon, Sprint is looking better. Do the research. Look at the actual speeds vs. the projected speeds, projected is a way Vz. can claim they are faster but in reality they are no faster than Sprint.
This delayed release for the tb has caused a lot of negative press for Verizon. I can not not believe how many people are upset with Verizon. This delay can not help with sales for Verizon. Maybe Verizon could care less and the consumers that want the latest and greastes devices will just keep taking it in the ass from BIG RED.
I think you’re an asshole with a big mouth
i think you need to smile like a doughnut :0
Yo jr. Maybe you will get your Thunderbolt as a stocking stuffer on Christmas day 2057 while wearing your depends. Maybe your gran kids can play with it then. Ha ha .