Connect with us

Hardware

HTC Thunderbolt Release Date ‘Moved’ to March 10, Not Coming Tomorrow

Published

on

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.

71 Comments

71 Comments

  1. Sifatulikihihifo

    03/04/2011 at 2:53 am

    Haha… Why are you going to believe some zit faced teenagers that don’t represent verizon our htc!? Their guess concerning the thunderbolts release date is as good as the average joe shmoe. If you’re really thinking the 10th because a best buy rep said so, you’re silly.

    • Jakolan

      03/04/2011 at 2:56 am

      and you are…

  2. StangGT

    03/04/2011 at 2:58 am

    I was just at my local Verizon store and got to play with the HTC Thunderbolt. It is every bit of phone they say it is. Also the Verizon rep stated that it had a Dual Core Processor in it. Not sure if he was just mistaken, or is this the reason for the delays? Maybe HTC has decided to fit them with dual cores. He said their was a HTC rep just at the store not that long ago to train them with the Thunderbolt. I am now more excited about the phone than I have been. I was starting to lose interest until I got to play with it. He still did not state a release date but the 10th is looking really promising. Just wait for this phone to hit it will be like getting hit by a THUNDERBOLT.

    • Anonymous

      03/04/2011 at 3:20 am

      where was it

      • StangGT

        03/04/2011 at 4:54 am

        New Orleans

    • Mattie Gee

      03/04/2011 at 3:40 am

      He “was” mistaken. The HTC Thunderbolt only has one Qualcomm MSM8655, 1GHz, Qualcomm MDM9600 processor chip.

      • StangGT

        03/04/2011 at 4:57 am

        I am not sure but maybe and this is a big MAYBE they decided to but dual cores, and that’s what was taking so long.

        • Mgurule80

          03/04/2011 at 5:54 am

          No. The End.

  3. Ewrq2

    03/04/2011 at 3:13 am

    got same new from BestBuy too.

  4. Jmc2543

    03/04/2011 at 3:23 am

    A few years back I worked for geek squad and can say for sure that’s talking to anyone in store is not a legit source. The stores, just like Verizon stores don’t know anything until a couple days before. This is more so true when talking about the mobile information.

  5. Jbgorenflo

    03/04/2011 at 3:40 am

    Yeah, and those loose-lipped BB employees have such a sterling track record of reliability when it comes to TB release dates. “It’s 2/14 – wait, it’s 2/17. No? I meant 2/21. No? How about 2/24? No? It’s 2/28, I swear. No? It’s got to be 3/4, that’s my final answer. Actually, we have no idea any more.” It’s craptastic blogs like this one that are just fueling the hypebeast machine.

  6. Cer

    03/04/2011 at 4:04 am

    No one cares anymore. The iPad 2 stole its thunder, CTIA is going to decimate it, and the iPhone 5 announcement is going to be the dagger.

    • Nome Sain

      03/04/2011 at 5:23 pm

      Spoken like a true Apple zombie.

      • Cer

        03/04/2011 at 5:49 pm

        Nicely done. I currently own a Touch Pro2 and have never owned any
        Apple product except for a single iPod that I bought in 2003 and sold
        within 6 months. I’ve been a Rhapsody subscriber for years, and have
        never bought a song on iTunes. Ever.

        I’m speaking as someone who would have bought a Thunderbolt if it had
        been released in February, but with CTIA (and the EVO2 announcement)
        only days away, and the iPad2 announcement getting everyone excited
        about the next iPhone, it would be foolish to buy a Thunderbolt now.

        And it’s not just me. The number of news stories on the Thunderbolt
        has seriously declined this week. Just look at Google news and blogs.
        The phone is old news and it’s aging fast.

        • Jenwiel

          03/09/2011 at 1:32 pm

          I totally agree with you! I’m not buying it now either. This has gone on way too long and if the best buy price of 299.00 is correct, I’m definitely not getting it. That is too much for a phone.

    • Kusheater86

      03/06/2011 at 2:44 am

      whats an ipad and how do you say? iphone??? whats that?…….. oh ya those super slow no flash fossil phones…..lol

  7. jesse

    03/04/2011 at 4:47 am

    guys the thunderbolt is not going to be release on march 10, its going to be hitting the stores and start selling on march 24,2011.

    • RealDeal

      03/04/2011 at 6:13 pm

      That’s the date (3/24) my local Verizon store told me as well

      • Realdealsdaddy

        03/06/2011 at 10:50 am

        the real deal..your local vzw store is as clueless as you are…noone has been given dates the only people who know when it is going to be released are the higher up not the lowe level employee who works in the stores…and if you recall…bb leaked on the 10th for sure …oh and about bout bgrs date of feb 24th?

      • j r

        03/06/2011 at 6:10 pm

        Hey dick head. The easter bunny is going to shit you a phone for easter,and santa dropped the one he had for you in the burning fire place he was trying to slide down. Oh And the leppercon said he promised not to come in your mouth

      • j r

        03/06/2011 at 6:10 pm

        Hey dick head. The easter bunny is going to shit you a phone for easter,and santa dropped the one he had for you in the burning fire place he was trying to slide down. Oh And the leppercon said he promised not to come in your mouth

        • HaHaYourMomMa

          03/10/2011 at 10:03 pm

          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 .

    • j r

      03/06/2011 at 6:16 pm

      yea and obama is going to lower all taxes and lower gas prices to .50 cents a gal. and this country will never stick its nose in other countries asses. all this will happen 12/23/12 fantasy

  8. Doug

    03/04/2011 at 5:09 am

    I heard the Thunderbolt is releasing in 2012 now. Or… it might as well be releasing then, because its sales will suck either way. Every day that this phone is withheld from consumers, the technology gets more antiquated. This phone will not even be considered “fast” in April by the time we have a better picture of what’s coming down the pipeline in May/June.

  9. Ranchoshurshot

    03/04/2011 at 5:37 am

    VERIZON LIES ABOUT EVERYTHING ELSE SO WHY SHOULD THIS BE DIFFERENT.

  10. Seamus McFlippant

    03/04/2011 at 5:45 am

    The HTC Thunderbolt release date WAS NOT MOVED TO ANY DATE. It was never March 4th, nor Feb 24, 28 etc… Verizon and HTC NEVER ANNOUNCED A RELEASE DATE, SO IT COULD NOT HAVE BEEN PUSHED BACK, MOVED, DELAYED, etc… Numb-nut, $8.00/hour Best Buy employees have no authority to say when the phone is going to be released and are talking out of their collective asses.

    • Blkdude

      03/06/2011 at 10:53 am

      Seamus..i hate BB and am pissed they were allowed to presell this phone but verizon or htc allowed them to do this…and im sure they also didn’t pull all these leaked dates out of their ass…

      • Nofanofdeb

        03/11/2011 at 3:54 am

        BB is NOT pre-selling Thunderbolts, all they are doing is selling $50 GIFT CARDS that can be USED on a Thunderbolt or ANYTHING ELSE in their store!!!!

  11. ZIMAR037

    03/04/2011 at 5:53 am

    I had a Verizon Customer Service agent call me today to try to get me to renew my contract. I am on a month to month basis because I have fulfilled my contract. I asked her about the Thunderbolt release date and she said it would be in April sometime. She also said they have to many other things to worry about. I told her were she can put the thunderbolt and not to call me back anymore. Looks like I am switching to another carrier.

  12. Ajohnson4dox

    03/04/2011 at 6:21 am

    This site is not legit, you’ve stated that the thunderbolt will be released every Thursday for the past month. Maybe it’s time to tell you “best buy source” to shove it up their ass because they’ve ruined what little credibility you had. It’s so stupid that you would still chase rumors when Verizon officially said that it would be the first to publish a release date and to stop listening to pimple faced losers from best buy. You should really just close this site and find a new job because you suck at this one. Everyone else, keep checking verizons facebook page, that’s where you’ll find the release date, not here.

    PS- the thunderbolt will be released sometime between today and December 24th, 2030. You heard it here first!

    See look, I can be a mindless blogger too.

  13. Bryan Wolford

    03/04/2011 at 6:23 am

    i really dont see the big deal with the thunderbolt, its not even a duel core, do i need to say more?

    • Fuzzy

      03/04/2011 at 1:03 pm

      Here is the big deal.. its scores higher on performance than the bionic (motorola’s dual core phone)

      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O0Mx-nkvQUA&playnext=1&list=PL7CEED95834589B30

    • Anonymous

      03/04/2011 at 1:37 pm

      Do your research before you talk please….

    • kalel51

      03/04/2011 at 4:41 pm

      Duel core? would that be pistols on the lawn? or rapiers at midnight?

    • Nofanofdeb

      03/11/2011 at 3:56 am

      No. But you might want to think more next BEFORE you make an idiot of yourself.

  14. Ajohnson4sox

    03/04/2011 at 4:38 pm

    I like that my post was deleted because I bad mouthed this site, just another example of why your site is amateur.

  15. Dmc945

    03/04/2011 at 4:54 pm

    i heard it wont be out till mid summer 2011

  16. Mppb

    03/04/2011 at 5:14 pm

    That’s right I have not only moved on to another topic but I have also moved on to a different phone and cell service provider

  17. Isaac Clarke

    03/04/2011 at 6:54 pm

    Yo peep game on what six duce tole me, des mofs are finna drop da thundabowt 03/24. I was like naw six duce that aint truff, but naw he said word is bond..

    • Ascension2057

      03/10/2011 at 9:36 pm

      Yo Isaac Clarke. Try writing in the English language. Wtf are you saying?

  18. fu

    03/04/2011 at 6:57 pm

    there is some serious faggotry afoot here.

    • Isaac Clarke

      03/05/2011 at 1:26 am

      You bess watch yo mouf, or you finna have “afoot” up to ass ho!

  19. Anonymous

    03/04/2011 at 7:04 pm

    Better to take a pass on this one. Network and phone do not like each other. You know the dangers of being first! This one is red with a siren on it.

  20. sam

    03/04/2011 at 11:04 pm

    Gotta love all the bitching and moaning.Verizon never officially gave a release date.Don’t listen to the idiots from Best Buy and the clowns making false statements of the repeated alleged releases.Keep your pants on, the phone will be here in due time.

  21. Turd

    03/05/2011 at 3:43 am

    I vow not to take another dump until they release this phone.

    • resti4455

      03/10/2011 at 9:27 pm

      Yo Turd you are funny. I heard from Santa Clause and he told me that the Easter Bunny is coming to town next week and delivering all the Thunderbolts to the retail stores. I hope you can hold out until next week. Fire in the hole……. Also jr can suck one of the Easter Bunnys eggs. Ha ha.

      • j r

        03/10/2011 at 9:44 pm

        Your favorite part was probably the leppercon not coming in your mouth

  22. j r

    03/06/2011 at 3:05 pm

    It really shouldn’t be a big puzzle that only rocket scientists can figure out. Wake up people, get a clue. They will only release the phone when sales on the junk apple phone are met. Not until then. It’s all about money and power. The big merge between verizon and apple has rules involved, that is to sell the alotted amount of apple junk phones to descent verizon customers who can’t wait a few months for a better phone. The point of have to have now, is really a running joke between big business to take John Doe public to the cleaners. It’s time to wake up and start to think smartly.

    • Guest

      03/11/2011 at 2:28 am

      100% RIGHT, and they will clear the rest of their 3G products. VZ wouldn’t let the Zoom be released in 4G so to get it out on the market they raised the price to cover converting it to 4G later and now you have it in 3G. Afterall if the ZOOM was released in 4G, how would that have effected the 3G Apple iPad 2’s release tomorrow ? No one would have wanted it.

  23. JC

    03/06/2011 at 6:14 pm

    At this point 5G will be out before the Thunderbolt!

  24. Turd

    03/06/2011 at 10:24 pm

    Myself, my wife, and my plumber hope it’s the 10th…

  25. Poopballsass

    03/07/2011 at 12:47 am

    The thunderbolts just a government conspiracy

  26. sprunky

    03/09/2011 at 10:50 am

    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.

    • Guest

      03/10/2011 at 2:12 am

      that is a smart move, smells like the Thunderbolt will have some serious issues.

  27. Bill

    03/10/2011 at 2:10 am

    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.

  28. LeeM

    03/10/2011 at 1:25 pm

    I spoke with a Verizon customer service rep, and she said they expected Thunderbolt to be released in April.

  29. Mapleleaf22

    03/10/2011 at 9:43 pm

    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.

  30. Ifeeldirty

    03/10/2011 at 9:47 pm

    Its a conspiracy. The Thunderbolt does not exist. Verizon how could you do this to us. I feel violated.

  31. TB-This747

    03/10/2011 at 10:14 pm

    @ 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 .

  32. Guest

    03/11/2011 at 2:00 am

    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.

  33. wtfverizon

    03/11/2011 at 2:39 am

    When the F is this device going to get released.

    • Nofanofdeb

      03/11/2011 at 4:02 am

      When VW feels they F’d us around enough and not one minute sooner.

    • TBnot4you

      03/11/2011 at 2:08 pm

      It is so competitive. I am sure Verizon is taking a hit over this. Everyone I talk to hates Verizon. Wow! WTF.

  34. TBnot4u

    03/12/2011 at 3:22 pm

    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.

  35. Guest

    03/12/2011 at 4:22 pm

    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.

  36. TBnot4u

    03/12/2011 at 10:36 pm

    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.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.

As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.