The Smartphone Shortage Problem

You can't buy any of the latest generation of smartphones. Why is no one writing about this?

The HTC Incredible was introduced April 29, 2010. You still can't go into a store and buy one. Back ordered. Then comes the HTC Evo in early June. Can't buy one. Back ordered. Apple's iPhone 4 comes out June 24. Can I go into a store and buy one? No. Then in late June pre-orders for the Motorola Droid X are opened and within days Best Buy stops taking pre-orders because the first production run is sold out. Now after the handful that are shipped to Verizon stores on July 15 are sold, it, too, will be back ordered.

So the only "superphone" that one can currently buy is the Nexus One, which came out in January and is on the worst network in the country: T-Mobile. Wonderful.

But for certain reasons I'm feeling pretty desperate to get a family plan and get Mom and Barb and myself cell phones. And of course, because I am a technogeek and can afford it, I want a superphone. So I decide, "Fuck it, I'll get a last-generation smartphone -- the still-pretty-cool Motorola Droid." Got to Verizon's website, add the Droid to my cart, add a free phone to the cart for Barb, then go to find the bare-bones and perfect-for-honored-citizens Samsung Knack for Mom and guess what? The goddamn Knack, the most basic phone in existence, is currently sold out.

What is the deal? Is this a business strategy to keep people in a froth about the latest and greatest? Is it a sign that industry is pushing the boundaries of the technosphere so hard that the infrastructure of manufacturing is breaking down? Or are these companies so dumb that they time after time underestimate the demand for these very expensive products in this depressed economy?