While the life cycle of most feature phones is probably a little over a year, we’re typically used to seeing smartphones stick around in a carrier’s lineup a little longer than that. Unfortunately for the DROID Eris, it looks like Verizon is looking to clean out their Android selection before the launch of the DROID X and DROID 2 next month.
Late yesterday, Verizon removed the HTC made DROID Eris from their online store. Retail locations across the country still have the DROID Eris in stock, but there’s no indication that they will receive more units once their inventories are depleted.
It’s not unusual for a carrier stop selling a phone when something better is coming along in the same category, but it’s a little odd that the DROID Eris is the first Android handset in the U.S. to hit retirement considering that it’s only been on the market for about eight months. The T-Mobile G1 was the very first Android phone to hit the market and it just celebrated its 20th month of availability.
So which phone is next? If the DROID Eris with its recent Android 2.1 update has met the chopping block already, we’re bound to see other carriers start hacking away at their Android lineup to make room for the Galaxy S and other new Android phones that are expected to arrive over the summer months.
The Eris’s big brother, the Droid Incredible, also remains in short supply but our online store received another shipment and we have them on sale right now.
