Lumia ICON Discontinued?

[primortal]

Technically the Icon and the 930 are identical devices so VZW wouldn't carry the 930 if they "retired" the Icon.

Hopefully the 930 or similar will make it's way to AT&T.  I don't see Sprint or TMobile getting any flagship devices anytime soon.

[jnetSYNATK]

If it was discontinued for poor sales, its their own fault. They push apple sales and apple only, and sheeple buy them.

Microsoft needs to go the way apple did with phone - making one flag ship. This will prevent fragmentation , make it easier to keep updated and ultimately boost sales.

Verizon is losing another customer. Dropped FiOS, and now I am switching carriers. Not giving them anymore money. Their CS and lack of communication blows.

[SickFreak]

jnetSYNATK

Microsoft needs to go the way apple did with phone - making one flag ship. This will prevent fragmentation , make it easier to keep updated and ultimately boost sales.

I can't agree with this as Apple's view, for the most part, is one size fits all.  I prefer having choices because not everyone is the same and has different needs.  While I'm NOT an Apple fan (well, not for the last 25 years,) at least they now offer two version of their iPhone 6.

[Southway523]

After 40 min on the phone with "customer I have no clue" they are still blaming the update roll out on Nokia. They did admit that the Icon has been dropped. Would have been great to know when I bought this on 9/04/2014. Of course now I'm stuck in a two year contract with a phone that they, I'm sure, are in no hurry to update. 

[loki666]

Yup.  Just had a chat session with sales.  Here's how it went:

Your RealTime session ID is RT11048243491.

You are now chatting with 'Emily J.'

Emily J.: Hello, welcome to Verizon Wireless sales chat! My name is Emily J., may I have your name, please?

You: Hi Emily, I'm Steve.

Emily J.: Hi Steve, how may I assist you with your order?

You: Where is the Lumia Icon? I listed your smartphones, and it's not included. In fact, the only Windows Phone listed is the Lumia 928.

Emily J.: I will be glad to assist you today, however we no longer have the Icon.

You: Why?

Emily J.: This phone was retired.

You: It sounds like Verizon doesn't want to sell any Windows Phones. 

Emily J.: I am not sure if any new ones are coming out, but usually do once a phone is retired.

You: Thanks. I'll be going to AT&T now. They seem to like Windows Phones. 

Emily J.: I do understand and I want to apologize for the inconvenience, is there anything else that I can assist you with today?

You: No thanks. Good bye, Verizon.

So I spent $500 to get this phone, and this "exclusive" is now "retired".  So I wouldn't hold my breath for either the Cyan or Denim firmware.  In fact, you probably won't ever see them upgrade the phone to Windows Phone 8.1.  How incredibly sleazy Verizon is.  I'm done with them.  NEVER AGAIN.  I've upgraded my Icon to 8.1 Dev. Preview which is nice, but I want the dang firmware enhancements!

In fact, I'll probably just move my Icon to an AT&T sim card, though you'll not be able to get LTE. 

[loki666]

They're not identical devices in the sense that the Icon doesn't have the necessary GSM frequencies necessary for LTE on other carriers.  You want LTE with the Icon, it's Verizon or nada.

[SickFreak]

And that's one thing I like about Europe - the phones aren't locked into a single carrier.  You do business with a carrier based on their service, not their available phones.  Could anyone imaging us picking our ISP based on the computers we're allowed to connect with?

If the carriers continue to do different communication frequencies and protocols, the phones need to be changed so we can just add a chip to connect to whichever provider we use.  If we want to change providers, we just yank out the old chip and replace it with a chip for our new service provider.

[#8]

It's not that simple as replacing a chip. It will take time, but eventually you will have interoperability once everyone moves to LTE fully. Were talking probably at least 6-8 years away though. Maybe ten.

[Tired0fVZW]

I am a current ICON owner and I can agree about the frustration of not having Cyan and the fact that they are discontinuing a phone that is less than a year old, but unfortunately I have dealt with VZW for a long time and experienced this update issue all the way back to the original Motorola Droid.  They have always been WAY later to the show when it comes to updates.  It's nothing new.  I agree with primortal though, I believe they might be making way for the 930.  While Big Red does have an affinity toward iPhone and Android devices, they wouldn't want to lose the percentage of market share for WP users to competition regardless how small the percentage. 1% can make a big difference to revenue produced.  If AT&T hadn't lost my business in the past for billing issues, then I would go back, but unfortunately no one else can provide coverage and speeds as good as VZW so I'm stuck.  If they don't release the Cyan update before the end of the year, even though Denim is suppose to be due (you can't update to Denim without Cyan), I may see about settling my differences with AT&T and switching.  I have been a long time customer with VZW and have multiple lines with them, but I am at my wits end.  It's time they started caring about their customers no matter which platform or phone they choose. 

[fkmalone]

I believe there is a big difference between iPhone and other phone users.  iPhone users are quick to jump on the next phone and Verizon likes that.  Other phones are getting to the point where they can last longer, especially if updates are provided.  So as a WP (Icon) user I plan to keep mine for a while.  Verizon does NOT want that.  They want us to get a new phone.  It is the only way to pad their pockets.  But I guess that is the great thing about the good ole US of A: businesses and individuals are free to be as greedy as they want.  Unless we make noise where it can be heard by others to rally around (i.e., not here in the forums) we might as well resign ourselves to the fact that the customer is never right when it comes to mobile businesses.