Verizon scraps Eris while Incredible still delayed

Verizon has quietly dropped the HTC Droid Eris from its phone roster ahead of today's expected unveiling of the Droid X. The Android phone had only been launched in November of last year but now leaves only more expensive devices in its place, such as the Droid Devour and Droid Incredible. Verizon hasn't explained its reasons for pulling the phone, but it could be both to let the original Droid take its place or to switch attention to alternatives like the Pixi Plus.

The move leaves HTC without much of a berth for short-term sales at Verizon. Ongoing shortages of the Droid Incredible now have new orders for the current range-topper only arriving on July 20, or nearly a month from today. Although still in demand, much of the problem is blamed on Samsung's problems getting AMOLED displays to HTC rather than sheer popularity.

Motorola's Droid X is expected by many to quickly supercede the Incredible as Verizon's favored Android phone, since it will have a larger 4.3-inch screen, HD video capture, HDMI output and other touches its rival lacks.

By Electronista Staff