Sprint Backpedals On HTC EVO 4G Sales

Sprint isn't saying the HTC EVO 4G smartphone didn't break its single day sales record for any device, but the carrier is taking back its initial estimates, saying that it overestimated just how many HTC EVO 4Gs were sold when it hit stores on June 4.

Sprint's take-back follows a June 7 press release that indicated that first-day sales of the HTC EVO 4G surpassed the number of Samsung Instincts and Palm Pres combined sold over their first three days on the market.

The HTC EVO 4G is the first commercially available 4G WiMax smartphone and the latest smartphone to be dubbed the toughest rival for the just announced Apple iPhone 4. The industry is watching closely as the HTC EVO 4G and the Apple iPhone 4 battle it out for smartphone supremacy.

In an about-face posted by Sprint on Wednesday, the carrier clarified the number of HTC EVO 4G smartphones sold, but still did not provide an exact number.

"June 4, 2010 sales of HTC EVO 4G marked the largest quantity of a single phone sold in one day ever for Sprint - the record was previously held by both Samsung Instinct and Palm Pre," Sprint said. "Launch day sales of HTC EVO 4G were six times greater than launch day sales of Samsung Instinct and nearly twice the launch day sales for Palm Pre. We continue to see sales of EVO 4G outpace sales of Samsung Instinct and Palm Pre."

Sprint continued: "We originally reported that the total number of HTC EVO 4G devices sold on launch day was three times the number of Samsung Instinct and Palm Pre devices sold over their first three days on the market combined. We inadvertently erred in the comparison. The total number of HTC EVO 4G devices sold on launch day was in line with the number of Samsung Instinct and Palm Pre devices sold over the first three days on the market combined."

Despite Sprint's stretching of HTC EVO 4G sales figures, the device is still hot. The launch day saw thousands of customers line up for the device on Friday and Sprint's Web site indicates that the sought-after smartphone is still sold out, giving potential buyers the message: "Sorry, this device is so hot we can't keep it on our virtual shelves. Check back later - more are on their way!"

The EVO 4G offers a 4.3-inch touch-screen, a 1 GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon processor, an 8 megapixel HD video and still camera and a second 1.3 megapixel camera. Along with being the first to leverage Sprints 4G WiMax network, the smartphone also can leverage 3G and Wi-Fi and features a built in mobile hotspot for up to eight Wi-Fi enabled devices.