If you asked us which Android smartphone was the king of the hill at the moment, we’d be hard up to choose between the HTC-made Google Nexus One and the HTC Droid Incredible. Carrier choices aside, both handsets are remarkably well made and bring iPhone 3GS-killing specs to the table. In fact, we’d likely just cop out and give both the N1 and the Incredible top-billing as the best Android phone currently available. Press us hard enough, though, and we may just give the edge to the HTC Incredible – known to Verizon as the Verizon Droid Incredible. So, it shouldn’t be too big a surprise that Big Red is having a tough time keeping up with demand for the latest and greatest Android handset. In fact, Incredible shipments are reportedly selling out within a matter of hours of arriving at a Verizon store.
MSNBC is reporting that Verizon Wireless CEO Lowell McAdam, while talking about the carrier’s now-developing 4G LTE network and the 3-5 LTE phones that will be available in 2011, said that Verizon is unable to keep up with demand for the HTC Droid Incredible. The problem, in part, says McAdam, hinges on supply shortages for the Incredible’s OLED display, which is sourced from Samsung Electronics. The shortages follow a fantastic launch-weekend that had the carrier selling somewhere in the neighborhood of 100,000 units in just two days, resulting in inventory sell outs throughout the country.
According to the Verizon chief, Verizon stores are repeatedly selling out of HTC Incredible stock. He says that, “When a shipment gets to a store now, it’s gone in a matter of hours.” McAdams continues by saying that “[Verizon Wireless] had to pull way back … Right now supply is a big problem.” In fact, supply is big enough a problem for Verizon that they expect the Incredible would straight up outsell the Motorola Droid – which was the gotta-have Android phone when it had its 15 minutes in the limelight several months ago – if it weren’t for supply constraints.
Seeing Android phones like the Incredible getting so much attention is refreshing in an iPhone-dominated mobile world. These kinds of sales statistics, while less than ideal, are promising for Google’s Android OS, great for Verizon’s bottom line, and even better for HTC’s rocketship rise to the top of the mobile game.