You may have heard that Verizon will start selling the iPhone 4 tonight to existing subscribers. Verizon sent an e-mail (above) to all current subscribers inviting them to upgrade to the iPhone 4 but there's a catch that you should be aware of. The offer only applies if you qualify for an upgrade. When I checked my upgrade status on the Verizon website I found that I won't be eligible to upgrade until May. I called Verizon to ask if they could help reconcile the confusing information I was getting from them. They explained that I'm still able to upgrade now at the unsubsidized retail rate (that would be close to $700) but that I'll have to wait until May to upgrade to an iPhone using my "New Every Two" credit. I thanked them for their very generous offer and let them know that I'll pass for now.
So, this promotion is a bit misleading, only a small subset of Verizon Wireless subscribers will be able to upgrade this week, not all subscribers as the media has reported. This is a perplexing business move, it would seem to undercut momentum for the phone going forward. But, hey, if they want to discourage a buyer whose only months away from upgrading, I guess that's their call. It gives me time to explore my options.
Update: 2/4/11: Here is the answer to why Verizon opened the pre-order to only a subset of current subscribers and not all, they knew they had a suppy problem: CNN - Verizon iPhone 4 pre-orders sold out: Verizon is no longer accepting pre-orders for the iPhone 4. The demand for Verizon iPhone was very strong as it took less than a day for the pre-orders to sell out.
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