Can someone convince me that Verizon is a serious WP8 player?

[tampacoder]

I went to three stores and they didn't have any inventory for either the 8X or 822 and it was not due to popularity (they had lot of Android and iPhone in stock). They just haven't received the phones as yet. I'm not sure if this is a manufacturer problem or Verizon problem; but I'm thinking it has to be Verizon due to their history with Windows Phone. I took a trip to Best Buy at a local mall and they did have the 8X, in blue; but it was for AT&T. Last year, I switched to AT&T to get the TITAN; but I had to return the phone and go back to VZ due to horrible cellular service in my area so I'm sticking with VZ. Seriously folks, this smartphone platform will NEVER take off if the Manufacturers or Wireless providers can't meet the demands of their customers.

 

[independentvolume]

My Target, in a town of 11,000 , had the 822 in stock. Not sure what's wrong with your store.

 

[eruptflail]

Pretty much all the windows phones have issues getting to the customers, it is likely a manufacturing problem.

 

[geekpryde]

I got my 8x on Black Friday at night. They had sold out of the blue (which I had played with the day before), and I am not sure they ever had the red one in. They still had a black one for me, but not too many. (Luckily, I got a nice blue case for the phone, so I have a splash of color.) They also had ZERO windows phone accessories on the floor, but they were glad to bring me a large stack from out back. I was told that the phone is popular, but I also think they had limited 8x qty on hand but they will be ramping up soon. It would have been nice to get the color I wanted, but hey, this is the holiday season, phones are in demand, it is a brand new phone, so I guess just try every day until you get your phone? I dont think Verizon has some conspiracy to keep you from getting the Windows Phone. Why would they care if you are on Android, iOS, or WP8, as long as you are a VZ customer?

 

[Joelist]

All you need to do is look at your TV - virtually all of those Windows Phone ads (especially the really catchy ones with the "simplicity" theme) are from Verizon. They are pushing it pretty hard and no doubt are a bit torqued at the OEMs for not having enough on hand. The OEMs should know better - Verizon is the largest carrier for more than one reason. They not only have the largest and most robust network they are better at marketing and selling phones than just about anyone else.

 

[ealexand#CB]

not since they killed group texting. It seems silly but they lost me as a customer over that

 

[mtsmedly]

I really think there are some quality control issues with the HTC 8X. The screen just isn't sitting flush with the rest of the phone. I was able to convince Verizon to replace my initial 8X due to the lower left corner of the screen not being flush like the other 3 corners. They brought out a replacement phone and it had the same issue, they then brought out every other 8X the store had (all 5 of them) Every single Black 8X they showed me had the problem, some even had both bottom corners of the screen lifting up. I finally found 1 blue 8X that did not have the issue. Thankfully Verizon let me swap out the black 8X for the Blue 8X, even though to them changing color requires a restocking fee. They waived the fee and I now had a phone that looks flawless.

HTC really needs to get on top of their game getting these phones put together correctly. There shouldn't be this many issues. I can only imagine that if devices are getting shipped to stores with these kinds of build issues, how many they must be holding in manufacturing because of other problems.