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Verizon HTC One Launch: Hysterically Bad

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The Verizon HTC One launch is not going smoothly at all. In fact, the launch is the epitome of how not to launch a smartphone. And while HTC and Verizon continue to be mum on specifics, all we can do is sit back and laugh about how ridiculous the Verizon HTC One launch situation is at the moment.

After months and months of speculation and rumor, HTC and Verizon finally announced the HTC One for the carrier’s massive 4G LTE network, a network that dwarfs all others making it a logical destination for those looking to buy a new smartphone. The HTC One of course is a logical choice for anyone buying a smartphone as well.

Read: Verizon HTC One: How Not to Launch a Smartphone.

We could see a Verizon HTC One at the Verizon announcement.

The Verizon HTC One is still unreleased.

The device boasts a sleek all metal design, a 4.7-inch 1080p display, a quad-core processor, an Ultrapixel camera, Sense 5 which comes with the powerful HTC Zoe and of course, Android 4.1 Jelly Bean, the older version of Google’s Jelly Bean operating system. All in all, it’s a solid phone and one that should fit in well with Verizon’s other offerings.

Problem is, the Verizon HTC One, despite being official, hasn’t been released yet. In fact, HTC and Verizon have both refused to disclose any information about the smartphone in an effort that can only be described as bewildering. We’ve speculated that it might be because it has the still unannounced Android 4.2 Jelly Bean update on board, but that is no excuse for not at least delivering some of the specifications to interested smartphone owners.

This mess of a launch can ultimately be summed up with one look at HTC’s Twitter and Facebook feeds where the social media managers are being inundated with questions from consumers about the availability of the Verizon HTC One. In fact, a vast majority of the questions that HTC’s Twitter and Facebook accounts respond to look like this:

That’s just one example. Its Twitter feed looks like this today.

A lot of people want the Verizon HTC One.

A lot of people want the Verizon HTC One.

It’s hysterical to watch but it’s starting to get to the point where it’s hard not to feel bad for the people that have to answer this question 50 times a day. It’s also hard not to feel bad for those asking the question over and over again, looking for a response.

Here, we have one of the best smartphones in existence, on arguably the best carrier in the United States, a device that is official, and yet, we have no credible information. In fact, we don’t even know what the phone looks like. It’s all just hilariously bad.

The Verizon HTC One launch is painful to watch.

The Verizon HTC One launch is painful to watch.

It would not be as hard to watch if the device was a new smartphone, unreleased on other carriers. But this is a phone that has been out for weeks on AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile. Heck, even regional carriers like Cincinnati Bell have launched the HTC One.

Screen Shot 2013-06-13 at 10.54.51 AM

Perhaps HTC and Verizon will be the ones laughing once the phone actually launches and starts selling well but at this point, the Verizon HTC One launch is such a train wreck that it’s hard not to grab popcorn and watch the follies.

It’s hard to imagine that they haven’t lost some customers over it.

28 Comments

28 Comments

  1. Larry

    06/13/2013 at 11:15 am

    Screw Verizon if they wanted it, they would have it already , just like apple they play head games who cares if they get it or not, I don’t think HTC n Verizon getting along just like apple n Samsung

  2. Mark

    06/13/2013 at 11:52 am

    It would be more fun to watch if I wasn’t in the train wreck. My Verizon contract is up July 14 and would switch carriers if needed. I want the One more than a reasonable person should and have become far too obsessed with this story, Googl-ing ‘Verizon HTC One’ several times a day. I need to get a life.

    • Andrea Reese

      06/13/2013 at 12:18 pm

      Ha ha, Mark, me too! I’ve become a crazed lunatic over HTC One coming to Verizon!

    • Deiby

      06/13/2013 at 3:41 pm

      You are not alone mark

    • Jesse

      06/13/2013 at 6:59 pm

      Haha It’s amazing how of us are falling victim to this! I’m right there with you!

  3. Kyle Ward

    06/13/2013 at 12:03 pm

    I just switched to AT&T on release day. If you don’t have it when it releases you’ve done goofed. I would’ve stayed with Verizon, too.

  4. Andrea Reese

    06/13/2013 at 12:22 pm

    I’ve been with Verizon forever, but for the first time I’m thinking about switching to another carrier, too, partly because I want the HTC One, and partly because looking into this phone at other carriers, I see how much less I could be spending per month for service. Plus, of course, I’m irritated with Verizon right now because of the HTC one delay and their lack of communication.

    • Chris

      06/26/2013 at 12:33 pm

      I’m in the exact same boat, Andrea. I keep eyeing Ting (ting.com), who both has the HTC One and appears to have some ludicrously reasonable pricing. They’re on the Sprint network, which I have to educate myself about, but I’m within spitting distance of a wifi hotspot most of the time I need to use my phone, so I am thinking any reduced coverage would be manageable. I would have to give up unlimited data, which I have with Big Red, though A) I would have to give it up to get an upgraded phone on Verizon anyway, unless I wanted to pay unsubsidized cost (which I would have to do with Ting, but the drastically lower bill covers that cost), and B) paying for what you use means that most months my phone bill would be between $42 and $66 for two lines. Considering I’m paying $155 for two lines today, I’m not seeing much of a downside.

  5. ovy13

    06/13/2013 at 1:12 pm

    I’m not particularly keen on the Samsung Galaxy S4, but my old Droid Incredible (the original!) is just about out of steam. I can’t afford to wait much longer, but I’ll be particularly pissed if I finally give up and pick up a new phone, only to find out a week or two later when the HTC One will actually land.

    • Ballbagger Steve

      06/13/2013 at 1:52 pm

      I’m in the same boat. I have the original incredible as well, and just bought a $6 replacement battery so I can last until VZ releases the One.

    • gallen408

      06/13/2013 at 1:55 pm

      Sadly it’s not even an if but when. Come to think of it you should head out and pick up a DNA today so they WILL launch the One next monday. ^-^

  6. Matthew Rios

    06/13/2013 at 2:04 pm

    The reason why Verizon is usually the last company to launch such an iconic device is because they want to wait till the majority if not all bugs are fixed on the device. Think about it. If you were to switch now there is a decent chance you will have some kind of issue with this new device. What Verizon does is allow this to happen to other carriers before they decide to carry it on their network.

    • ovy13

      06/13/2013 at 2:47 pm

      I’d agree, except the S4 came without delay. So your rationale is not quite true. Still, I do expect the Verizon HTC One to have some of the issues solved (like the quality control oversights).

      • Matthew

        06/13/2013 at 9:40 pm

        The S4 was launched after it had launched on all other carriers. It was a few weeks later.

  7. BeowulfShaeffer

    06/13/2013 at 2:14 pm

    Last summer I tried to leave VZW for TMO and part of the reason was that Verizon wasn’t carrying the new OneX or OneS (which had just come out). Turns out in our area TMOs coverage varied from “weak” to “nonexistant” so we went simpering back. My wife upgraded to a (just-releasded) GS3. I didn’t particularly like the Galaxy, so I took a “wait-and-see” figuring a really cool new device would eventually make me want to drop my (original) Incredible. The Verizon lineup was just so uninspiring.

    Fast forward to today. I still don’t care for the Galaxy (even the GS4 is pretty “meh” IMO compared to the one). Verizon’s entire lineup of handsets is pretty non-inspiring. The HTC One is the first phone I’ve played with in a long time that I actively lust for and once AGAIN VZW is dragging their feet on carrying it. And now they’re playing coy with it? I’m pretty angry about that. I need to upgrade and need to plan for it. If they don’t announce something soon I might just jump to ATT.

    There are various extenuating circumstances that would make that hard to do this year, but there’s always next year. If ATT or TMO steps up their game I’d happily jump ship as the best new handsets generally seem to show up on those networks and can be ported between them. The one thing that cheers my heart though is that VZW’s mishandling of licensing the LTE spectrum means I get free tethering. I don’t use it that much but now I am used to it and would be pretty mad at having to pay for it if I jumped carriers. It makes me happy that I get this because of Verizon’s own hubris.

    So yeah, Verizon CHRONICALLY neglects the top-end handsets from makers like HTC. I still send them the check every month but I am pretty irritated. I’ve had this handset for three years so I am way overdue for a replacement. Like ovy13 I can’t describe how mad I’d be if I settled for one of their lackluster current offerings only to see the One ship 15 days later.

  8. Mike

    06/13/2013 at 5:03 pm

    I’d switch to AT&T if I were you. Their network may not be as big when it comes to LTE, but their speeds are the fastest of all carriers. Their 4G is faster than some carriers LTE. And their Mobile Share plans are cheaper than Verizon. And by the way, the Galaxy S4 was delayed a month behind of the other carriers release date. I don’t think it has anything to do with working the bugs out, I just think Verizon likes to be difficult. I have the HTC One on the AT&T network and its easily the best smartphone on the market. If HTC were to come out with a tablet built the same as the One, I’d drop my iPad mini in a heartbeat.

  9. BeowulfShaeffer

    06/13/2013 at 6:42 pm

    Mike there are complicating factors that make that an un attractive idea right now, including an employer discount on my plan. I didn’t get the sense AT&T was any cheaper. I live in the Midwest and around here Verizon has better coverage in the hinterlands. And having dealt with AT&T in the past I know I would just despise them for different reasons.

    • Joshua

      06/17/2013 at 7:12 pm

      Your right there the Midwest Verizon did best, I visit my family and my AT&T sucked and went to Verizon

  10. The Garden Master

    06/13/2013 at 8:29 pm

    Amazing how self absorbed the last couple of generations are. What train wreck? What refusal to provide information? What bad launch? Verizon answered the question regarding the HTC One, “The HTC One will be available from Verizon later this summer. We’ll be sharing exact timing details closer to availability.— HTC USA (@HTCUSA) June 13, 2013”. What don’t you understand about plain English? It appears the problem is more about not being told what you want to hear instead of what the facts are. To date we have no new information so obviously we are not close to availability. Later this summer could be August. Its not the end of summer yet, so don’t get your panties in a bunch. And those of you that claim you have switched from Verizon to another carrier so you could get the HTC One a little earlier! Pay the full inflated price on a subpar carrier, for a subpar phone no less! Brilliant, nothing like cutting off your nose to spite your face! Boy you really showed them! Sounds more like a bunch of junior high kids then it does adults. So Verizon, so far, have done and are doing exactly as they said they would do. The launch of the HTC One on Verizon is on Schedule as planned. Sounds like the HTC One launch is running smoothly to me.

  11. The Garden Master

    06/13/2013 at 8:49 pm

    You cannot honestly claim AT&T is cheaper unless you know each individual’s location and circumstances. Nor can you honesty claim that the HTC One is the best phone on the market unless you know the individual’s needs. It’s subjective. For me AT&T would be more expensive, slower and service spotty with frequently dropped calls. For me the HTC One would be like using a no frills generic phone.

  12. Stuck On Verizon

    06/14/2013 at 4:31 am

    Someone be trolling. Forums everywhere are full of Verizon customers clearly stating why they are annoyed by the current state of affairs, and in almost every one you’ll find posts like GardenMaster’s that throw out juvenile insults at every one of them and coming to the rescue of poor maligned Verizon. As they say where I come from: “Hail, Corporate!”

  13. Lenny Palmieri

    06/14/2013 at 7:45 am

    I among many left for AT&T.

  14. Larry

    06/15/2013 at 12:42 pm

    That Verizon logo on the back looks so fake too!! Gee thanks photo shop:)) is that a gimmick to get us excited that Verizon has it?? NOT ME

  15. Rick

    06/24/2013 at 9:00 pm

    I am anxiously awaiting the arrival of the Verizon HTC One because I’m hoping it bring with it a sale on the GS4.

    Might have considered the One a bit more if HTC didn’t try to shove BlinkFeed down my throat in all their commercials. It’s not my content in BlinkFeed because I cannot customize it with the sites that I actually care about. I suspect it’s the content that HTC is getting some kickback from to include them in BlinkFeed, which is fine, but then don’t try to tell me it’s the sites that I want to view.

    So come on Big Red One and come one GS4 price drop!

  16. Kris

    06/25/2013 at 12:28 pm

    I honestly believe this is why HTC struggles. Verizon is Verizon, and we all know they are bullies in the industry, but it’s hard to watch HTC have an amazing phone like the One and can’t even get it into customers hands. At the end of this phones life everyone will talk about how the S4 outsold it, just like with past HTC phones, but here’s the classic example of why that happens.

  17. Alex

    06/29/2013 at 7:06 pm

    Unfortunately this is how ‘Big Red’ operates. Unless a company has the clout of say Samsung or Apple, smaller manufactures like HTC are pushed to the side. The only way this would be priority for Verizon is if they had slapped Droid branding on the phone to further push their own agenda. Remember in december 2011 when they botched the launch of the Samsung galaxy nexus, I’m afraid the same thing is happening here. What pisses me off the most is the lack of communication, I’ve been a loyal customer 9yrs now and growing tired of these games. They seem to forget there are 3 other carriers that work pretty well in my area that I will be happy to give my money to each month. So get off your butts and release this thing

  18. lizz

    06/30/2013 at 7:50 am

    I’ve been upgrade eligible since March and waiting to buy the htc one by the time I finally up grade on my employee account it would be almost time for me to upgrade again if I wouldnt have waited fml im seriously thinking of changing to att I’d pay the same either way

  19. Hyder

    06/30/2013 at 8:25 pm

    Verizon has got to be the most arrogant phone company. They think people will not leave them because of their network. Th truth is competitors are catching up fast. Soon customers will be choosing based on what equipment is offered not the network. Verizon will fall, and it will be because of their arrogance.

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